The Dow Jones Industrial Average was poised to open above 23,000 for the first time on Wednesday following a series of upbeat earnings reports from marquee companies.
* The index briefly surpassed the milestone on Tuesday but closed at 22,997 points, up 3,235 points since the start of the year. The latest 1,000-point increase was covered in roughly half the time it took the index to move from 21,000 to 22,000.
* Solid earnings so far, strong economic data and hopes that President Donald Trump may be able to make progress on tax cuts have helped the market rally this year.
* IBM, a Dow component, jumped 4.6 percent in premarket hours, after its quarterly revenue beat estimates and the company hinted at sales growth after nearly six years of declines.
* U.S. Senate Republicans on Monday gained crucial support for a vote on a budget resolution that is vital to Trump`s hopes of signing sweeping tax reform legislation into law before January.
* The dollar edged higher as markets awaited further news on the possible appointment of a hawk as the Federal Reserve chair and progress on tax reforms.
* Trump has a pool of five candidates to choose from and is likely to announce his choice before going to Asia in early November, according to a source familiar with the situation.
* The Fed issues the Beige Book, a periodic snapshot on the health of the U.S. economy, that is likely to show if inflation pressures are accelerating. The report is due at 2:00 p.m. ET (1800 GMT).
* The central bank still appears on course to raise interest rates again in December despite muted inflation. The odds of a December move stand at 96.7 percent, compared with 82.7 percent a week ago, according to CMEGroup`s FedWatch tool.
* New York Fed President William Dudley and his Dallas counterpart, Robert Kaplan, both voting members in the Fed`s rate-setting committee this year, are scheduled to speak later in the day.
* World stocks stayed near peaks as China`s Communist Party conference opened and the focus in Europe turned to speeches from top euro zone central bankers before next week`s key policy meeting.
* A Commerce Department report, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, is likely to show housing starts for September remained unchanged at a 1.18 million-unit rate.
* Abbott rose 2.07 percent ahead of the medical device maker`s earnings report.
* Chipotle Mexican Grill slipped 2.28 percent after Bank of America Merrill downgraded the company`s stock to "underperform" and slashed its price target by $105 to $285.
(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
05:07 PM IST