Stocks Wednesday: Bumpy Ride Ahead

After a day of significant gains, U.S. markets were pointing to a lower open Wednesday.

U.S. stock futures were indicating they would step back from Tuesday's heady heights, when the Dow Jones industrial average set a record closing high.

It is a quiet day for domestic economic data and earnings. Overseas, the International Monetary Fundcut the growth forecast for China, the world's No. 2 economy. The IMF raised concerns about a rapid expansion in credit there and the ability of borrowers to repay the loans.

Shares of Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) were lower after an appearance at the AllThingsD conference by CEO Tim Cook Tuesday evening. Cook was evasive about the company's product plans, saying only that the iPhone maker was looking for more "game changers" in its future and that he considered the wearable computing product segment " "incredibly interesting."

Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) reached a settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Authority in a suit charging it deceived Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac when it sold the housing finance firms mortgage securities during the housing bubble. Citigroup shares fell in after-hours trading.

U.S. stocks surged Tuesday following strong reports on the housing market andconsumer confidence. The Dow added 106 points to close at a record high, the Nasdaqgained 0.9% and the S&P 500 rose by 0.6%.

The S&P/Case-Shiller Index showed Tuesday that housing prices rose 10.2% during the first quarter, the biggest increase since 2007. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index, meanwhile, hit a five-year high.