Stocks Headed for a Firm Start By Anshuman Daga LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were headed for a firm start on Wednesday, helped by a dip in oil prices but Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote , Profile , Research ) was expected to ease after a European Union court upheld antitrust sanctions on the software giant. Light crude oil futures were off 22 cents at $45.5 a barrel. "The strong European markets have probably given people a reason to get into futures," said Angus Campbell, head of sales and marketing at spread betting firm Finspreads. European stocks were up on Wednesday, with the FTSEurofirst index rising 0.55 percent and tech shares were higher. Shares in Microsoft were indicated lower in Frankfurt (MSFT.F: Quote , Profile , Research ) after the court ruling. The EU's executive levied a record fine on Microsoft in March and sanctions that would force it to change business practices and sell a stripped-down version of its Windows computer operating system. Microsoft had appealed against the decision to the EU's second-highest court and asked it to suspend penalties until the main case finishes years from now, but the court dismissed the company's appeal on Wednesday. By 5:50 a.m. EST, U.S. stock futures were pointing to opening gains of between 0.11 and 0.22 percent for the three main indexes (SPH5: Quote , Profile , Research ) (DJH5: Quote , Profile , Research ) (NDH5: Quote , Profile , Research ) . Among other corporate news, the chief executive and chief financial officer of U.S. mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae (FNM.N: Quote , Profile , Research ) stepped down late on Tuesday after regulators exposed accounting errors that are expected to force a massive earnings restatement. After months of drama about Fannie Mae's operating methods, the Securities and Exchange Commission last week determined the company would have to correct substantial errors in its financial reports. On Tuesday, U.S. stocks rallied with the Dow getting a boost by a rebound in beaten-down drugmaker Pfizer (PFE.N: Quote , Profile , Research ) , while technology stocks were buoyed as Lehman upgraded its rating on Intel (INTC.O: Quote , Profile , Research ) . The Dow Jones industrial average closed 0.92 percent stronger at 10,759.4 points, its highest close since June 2001 while the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.1 percent to 2,150.9 points. "The Santa rally is very much apparent, regardless of recent bad news from Pfizer," Finspread's Campbell said on the market in the run-up to Christmas. In a thin day of corporate earnings, computer memory maker Micron Technology (MU.N: Quote , Profile , Research ) is set to release its results. On the economic front, final third-quarter real GDP numbers are due at 8:30 a.m. EST and economists have forecast a 3.9 percent rise. Quelle "Stocks Headed for a Firm Start" : reuters.com Main page for "Stocks Headed for a Firm Start"