Early indications point to a slow start with very little news to guide the market action Wednesday. Thirty minutes before the opening bell on Wall Street, stock index futures hint at a modest gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a slim loss for the NASDAQ.

With no economic news to guide the morning trading, some of the focus is on overseas markets, where trading has been mostly sluggish and uninspired. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei lost .6 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.1 percent. In Europe, France’s CAC 40 slipped .7 percent, UK’s FTSE is down .6 percent, and Germany’s DAX is .5 percent lower.

In the US, no data is scheduled until weekly jobless claims Tuesday morning and so bonds are seeing a small bid in slow trading. The benchmark ten-year Treasury is up 1/32nd and yields 2.93 percent.

The dollar lost .26 to 87.25 against the Japanese yen. The euro gave back .0034 to 1.2588 against the buck.

Action in the commodities markets is mixed. Crude oil is up 76 cents to $72.74 a barrel. Gold lost $3 to $1192.10 an ounce.

Among the stocks to watch, Family Dollar Stores (FDO) lost almost 6 percent after reporting a quarterly profit of 77 cents per share, which beat Street estimates by a penny, but then also guided estimates lower for the fourth quarter and 2010. State Street (STT) shares are up 7 percent after guiding second quarter estimates higher. BP shares are up 2 percent on reports the company’s CEO is meeting with Abu Dhabi state fund today, raising speculation about an investment from a sovereign wealth fund.