Early indications point to a steady open on a slow news day and very quiet trading across international financial markets Wednesday. About an hour before the opening bell on Wall Street, stock index futures hint at modest early gains for both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ.

Stock benchmarks saw narrow trading overseas. Japan’s Nikkei finished down .04 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was unchanged. In Europe, France’s CAC 40 Index is up .3 percent, Germany’s DAX up .2 percent, and UK’s FTSE is flat.

In the US, the focus turns to the only economic stat of the day at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. A report on wholesale inventories is expected to show an uptick of .2 percent for January.

With no other news to guide the action, bonds are drifting in aimless trade. The benchmark ten-year Treasury is down 2/32nd and now yields 3.71 percent.

The dollar added .49 to 90.43 against the yen. The euro gained .0004 to 1.3602 against the buck.

Crude oil added .25 cents to $81.74 a barrel and gold rose $2.1 to $1124.40 an ounce.

Among the stocks to watch, Intermune (ITMN) launched 64.5 percent higher after an FDA panel voted to approve the company’s pirfenidone. Factset (FACT) jumped 66 percent after Abbott (ABT) made a $27 cash bid for the company. American Eagle (AEO) rose 5 percent on better-than-expected earnings. Navistar (NAV) lost 7 percent after reporting a quarterly profit of 23 cents per share, which fell well short of analyst estimates of 85 cents. Retailers will be in focus after the closing bell with a number of second tier names — Hot Topic (HOTT), Men’s Wearhouse (MW), Jo-Ann Stores (JAS) — slated to release results.