U.S. stocks seen lower as subprime woes resurface

Downbeat earnings news from Intel, Pfizer and Yahoo also pressure stocks

U.S. stocks were set for a lower opening on Wednesday, a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average first breached the key 14,000 level, as woes from the subprime mortgage market resurfaced while earnings reports from Intel Corp., Pfizer Inc., and Yahoo Inc., disappointed investors. Investors will also monitor the Congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, whose views on the economy and inflation may help shed light on whether the central bank will eventually tweak interest rates.

Inflation and Fed's Bernanke
The market showed little reaction to news that consumer prices increased a moderate 0.2% in June, a touch higher than the 0.1% expected, with falling energy prices offsetting rising food prices. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the core consumer price index also increased 0.2%, in line with expectations. Bernanke may be grilled about the meltdown in the subprime mortgage market, amid criticism that the central bank under former Fed chief Alan Greenspan made few efforts to prevent banks from extending dodgy loans to unaware borrowers.

Other markets
Bonds were flat, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury is unchanged at 95 24/3

The dollar was basically flat against rivals, though earlier it fell to new lows vs. the euro and the British pound. Overseas stock markets also were weaker, with the FTSE 100 fell 0.9% in London and the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.1% in Tokyo. Crude oil futures rose 18 cents to $74.29 a barrel ahead of weekly energy data