NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Dow Jones industrial average's closing record is on the line Wednesday, but it could have trouble getting there due to an economic report that showed very weak demand for big ticket items.

After pointing to a higher open throughout the early trading, Nasdaq and S&P futures turned lower after the government report on durable goods orders showed a 0.5 percent decrease in August, rather than the 0.4 percent increase forecast by economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

At 10 a.m. ET Wednesday investors will see the latest reading on the slumping real estate market when the Census Bureau reports on August new home sales at 10 a.m. ET. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast new home sales sold at an annual pace of 1.04 million, down from a 1.07 million rate in July.

The report comes after No. 3 home building Lennar (Charts) warned on future results Tuesday, saying that the housing market hasn't yet hit bottom.

New home sales, while only a fraction of the overall market, are closely watched because they are more of an leading indicator for the housing market than existing home sales. A separate report Monday on existing home sales showed the first year-over-year drop in prices in more than 11 years in August.

"The new home sales might get more attention, but what happens with durable goods is ultimately more important," said David Kelly, economic adviser for Putnam Investments. "We've been waiting for an improvement in business investment spending, which is much bigger than spending on new homes."

But Kelly doesn't discount the help the markets could get if the Dow is able to post a new record close Wednesday.

The Dow was about 53 points shy of the record close from January 2000. But while that record of 11,722.98 appears within reach, it could take a while before the Dow hits a new trading higher, which is about 186 points higher than the record close. Both the trading and closing highs were hit Jan. 14, 2000.

"It could have a significant effect on investor psychology if we set a record," said Kelly. "I think the Dow hitting an all-time high is one step towards reducing market pessimism."

Oil gained ground ahead of the morning's report on U.S. fuel inventories. U.S. light crude rose 41 cents to $61.42 a barrel in electronic trading, while Brent crude traded in London rose 70 cents to $60.82.

Treasury prices rose, lowering the 10-year note yield to 4.56 percent. The dollar was lower against the euro and the yen.

Stocks in Asia closed higher on Tuesday's report showing a rise in U.S. consumer confidence. Major indexes in Europe gained in early trading.

In corporate news, a federal judge late Tuesday dismissed much of the antitrust lawsuit against Intel (Charts) by competitor Advanced Micro Devices (Charts), saying U.S. law does not cover many of AMD's claims. Both companies saw their shares rise more than 1 percent in Frankfurt trading early Wednesday, though.

Dow component Merck (Charts) won a federal lawsuit over painkiller Vioxx in New Orleans when a jury ruled Tuesday against a Kentucky man who said the drug caused him to have a heart attack. Merck shares gained 0.8 percent in Frankfurt trading.

General Motors (Charts) wants Nissan (Charts) and Renault to pay it a multibillion-dollar payment to compensate for the greater value the Detroit automaker believes it would bring to any partnership before it will join any alliance with those two companies, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

GM CEO Rick Wagoner and Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Nissan and Renault, met Wednesday at the Paris auto show. The Detroit News said Ghosn will tell GM that it could save at least $10 billion a year by entering into the alliance.

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