Stocks flat ahead of open

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks were poised for a flat open Wednesday, as lawmakers made little progress toward raising the debt ceiling, with less than one week to go before the nation's borrowing limit must be lifted.

Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were little changed ahead of the opening bell. Futures indicate the likely direction stocks will take when trading opens.

U.S. stocks retreated Tuesday, as concern about the outlook for corporate earnings and ongoing worries over the U.S. debt ceiling shook investor confidence.

Late Tuesday, House Speaker John Boehner said he will rewrite his debt ceiling legislation, after the Congressional Budget Office said the bill would reduce deficits by only $851 billion over 10 years.

Tim Speiss, a partner at EisnerAmper, said the debt issue will be the primary focus for investors throughout the day.

"We don't know yet where that is going to end up," Speiss said. "The whole matter is preposterous and is causing significant trauma around the world and in the U.S."

America's Debt Crisis

Economy: The Commerce Department reported that durable goods orders dropped unexpectedly in June. Orders fell 2.1% -- economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected an increase of 0.5% in June.

The Federal Reserve will issue its Beige Book of economic conditions around the United States at 2 p.m. ET.

Companies: Dow industrials component Boeing (BA, Fortune 500) reported earnings per share that blew away expectations, while it raised its outlook for the rest of the year. The company made $1.25 per share, topping expectations of 98 cents a share. Shares gained 3.7% in premarket trading.

Dow Chemical (DOW, Fortune 500) reported earnings of 84 cents per share on sales of $16 billion, topping analyst estimates. Shares were up a little more than 1% in premarket trading.

Dunkin' Donuts goes public on Wednesday after shares priced at $19, above their price range of $16 to $18.

Glass maker Corning (GLW, Fortune 500) reported earnings per share of 47 cents, while net sales topped $2 billion. Shares fell 4% in premarket trading.

After the close of trade Tuesday, Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500) reported that its net income in the second quarter fell to $191 million, or 41 cents a share. Despite the profit drop, the online retailer's results surpassed forecasts. Shares rose 6% in premarket trading.

After the closing bell, credit card processing company Visa (V, Fortune 500) will report its results.

World markets: European stocks were lower in midday trading. Britain's FTSE 100 declined 0.4%, the DAX in Germany dropped 0.5% and France's CAC 40 lost 0.9%.

Asian markets ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.8%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong retreated 0.1%, and Japan's Nikkei was off by 0.5%.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar strengthened against the euro and British pound, but weakened against the Japanese yen.

Gold futures for August delivery hit a new intraday trading record of $1,625.80 an ounce early Wednesday, before retreating to $1,619.40 an ounce -- a $2.60 increase from Tuesday's price.

Oil for September delivery slipped 88 cents to $98.71 a barrel.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury dropped, pushing the yield up to 2.96% from 2.95% late Tuesday.