U.S. stock futures are lower in pre-market trading for Thursday, June 16. The Dow Futures are down -48.00 points at 17504.0. The S&P 500 Futures are down -6.25 points at 2057.25. The Nasdaq Futures are lower at 4389.5 for a loss of -16.00 points. The Russell Futures are showing a loss of -4.90 points at 1139.3.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere stocks are lower. In China the Shanghai Composite is lower at 2872.82 for a loss of -14.39 points or -0.50 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is lower at 15434.14 for a loss of -485.44 points or -3.05 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is lower at 20038.42 for a loss of -429.10 points or -2.10 percent. In India, the S&P BSE Sensex is lower at 26525.46 for a loss of -200.88 points or -0.75 percent and the NSE Nifty is lower at 8,140.75 for a loss of -65.85 points or -0.80 percent. In Europe, the FTSE 100 is lower at 5935.01 for a loss of -31.79 points or -0.53 percent. Germany’s DAX is lower at 9543.24 for a loss of -63.47 points or -0.66 percent. France’s CAC 40 is lower at 4151.78 for a loss of -19.80 points or -0.47 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 is lower at 321.27 for a loss of -2.36 points or -0.73 percent.

Thursday’s Factors and Events

Futures are pointing lower for stocks on Thursday as stocks are lower in global market trading. A number of economic indicators are on the calendar for Thursday. The Consumer Price Index will be reported at 8:30 AM EST. Also on the calendar for Thursday are the following: Jobless Claims, Housing Market Index, the Fed Balance Sheet and Money Supply.

In pre-market trading the following stocks are trading actively: Newmont Mining Corp., Frontier Communications, Berkshire Hathaway, Perrigo Company PLC, Yahoo Inc., Pioneer Natural Resources, NVIDIA Corp. and Apple.

Earnings reports for the day include the following: Aero Grow International, Inc., Kroger Co., Poundland Group PLC, Determine, Inc., Finisar Corporation, Iteris, Inc., Oculus Innovative Sciences, Inc., Oracle Corporation and Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation.

Wednesday’s Activity

 The U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and lowered their outlook for the U.S. economy in the near-term which appears to be weighing on stocks in the pre-market on Thursday. On Wednesday, the leading U.S. indexes were lower for the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 17640.17 for a loss of -34.65 points or -0.20 percent. The S&P 500 was also down, closing at 2071.50 for a loss of -3.82 points or -0.18 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 4834.93 for a loss of -8.62 points or -0.18 percent.

Source: DJIA, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Google Finance.

Other notable index closes in the U.S. included the small-cap Russell 2000, closing at 1149.30 for a gain of 1.48 points or 0.13 percent; the S&P 600 closing at 703.71 for a loss of -0.19 points or -0.03 percent; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closing at 1479.97 for a gain of 2.54 points or 0.17 percent; the Russell 3000 closing at 1222.18 for a loss of -1.37 points or -0.11 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closing at 594.03 for a loss of -1.74 points or -0.29 percent.