Market Snapshot: Dow industrials on track to stay around 23,000 milestone

U.S. stock futures on Wednesday pointed to a muted open, keeping the Dow industrials on course to hold around 23,000 one day after they briefly traded above that big round number for the first time.

What are the main benchmarks doing?

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures

YMZ7, +0.16%

 gained 36 points, or 0.2%, to 22,987.00, while S&P 500 futures

ESZ7, +0.03%

added 0.85 point, or less than 0.1% to 2,557.75. Nasdaq-100 futures

NQZ7, +0.02%

 inched higher by 1.25 points to 6,125.00.

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

DJIA, +0.18%

 and S&P 500

SPX, +0.07%

 edged up to all-time closing highs, with the blue-chip average ending at 22,997.44 and briefly trading as high as 23,002.20. The Nasdaq Composite

COMP, -0.01%

finished slightly lower.

See: Dow 23,000 marks fresh history for blue chips

What are strategists saying?

“The Federal Reserve is never too far away from the spotlight, especially when President Donald Trump is interviewing candidates to succeed Janet Yellen when her term ends in February,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note Wednesday. “The dollar has caught a bid in recent days following reports that Trump was impressed when interviewing John Taylor, who is seen as being more hawkish than Yellen.”

Taylor is a Stanford University economist and recently viewed as on the president’s shortlist of candidates who could replace Fed chief Yellen.

What could drive markets?

New York Fed President William Dudley and Dallas Fed President Rob Kaplan are due to take part in a panel discussion about economic growth, with the event taking place in New York City at 8 a.m. Eastern Time.

A report on housing starts is slated to hit at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, with economists polled by MarketWatch forecasting 1.170 million in September.

Check out: MarketWatch’s Economic Calendar

At 2 p.m. Eastern, traders are due to get the Fed’s Beige Book report, which gathers economic anecdotes from across the U.S. central bank’s regional districts.

Which stocks look like key movers?

Shares in International Business Machines Corp.

IBM, -0.20%

 traded 5% higher in premarket action after the tech giant posted better-than-expected quarterly results late Tuesday. IBM was the Dow average’s biggest premarket gainer.

Read more: IBM earnings beat is a product of tax avoidance, and it’s nothing new

Shares in Fogo de Chão Inc.

FOGO, +0.84%

 appear on track for a down day after the restaurant chain gave a disappointing outlook late Tuesday.

Shares in Abbot Laboratories

ABT, +0.79%

 could see active trading as the provider of pharmaceuticals and other health-care products is among the companies expected to post earnings before the open.

What are other assets doing?

European stocks

SXXP, +0.16%

largely edged up, while Asian markets were mixed as a key meeting of China’s political elite kicked off. Oil futures

CLX7, +0.27%

rose modestly, while gold futures

GCZ7, -0.16%

pulled back. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index

DXY, +0.12%

was inching higher.