U.S. stock futures are pointing higher for stocks in pre-market trading on Thursday, July 7. The Dow Futures are at 17840.0 for a gain of 6.00 points. The S&P 500 Futures are at 2093.75 for a loss of -0.25 points. The Nasdaq Futures are higher at 4443.25 for a gain of 3.75 points. The Russell Futures are higher at 1145.0 for a gain of 0.70 points.
In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, stocks in Asia were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was lower at 15276.24 for a loss of -102.75 points or -0.67 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was higher at 20706.92 for a gain of 211.63 points or 1.03 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite was lower at 3016.85 for a loss of -0.45 points or -0.01 percent. India’s S&P BSE Sensex Index was higher at 27201.49 for a gain of 34.62 points or 0.13 percent. In Europe, stocks were higher. The FTSE 100 was higher at 6541.88 for a gain of 78.29 points or 1.21 percent. Germany’s DAX was higher at 9481.73 for a gain of 108.47 points or 1.16 percent. France’s CAC 40 was higher at 4150.98 for a gain of 65.68 points or 1.61 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 was higher at 323.93 for a gain of 5.17 points or 1.62 percent.
Thursday’s Factors and Events
A number of economic reports are on the calendar for Thursday. The ADP Employment Report will report on the private sector at 8:15 AM EST followed by Jobless Claims at 8:30 AM EST. Other reports for the day include the Gallup Good Jobs Rate, Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, EIA Natural Gas Report and the EIA Petroleum Status Report. Also from the Treasury will be the 3-month bill announcement, the 6-month bill announcement, the 3-year note announcement, the 10-year note announcement and the 30-year bond announcement. The Fed will also be releasing the Fed Balance Sheet and Money Supply report.
In pre-market trading for Thursday, the following stocks are trading actively: Chesapeake Energy, PepsiCo, Carnival, Coca-Cola, Netflix, First Solar, Under Armour, Microsoft, Bank of America and Newmont Mining.
On the earnings calendar for Thursday and Friday are the following: Northern Technologies International, Sandvine Corp., Apollo Education Group, Inc., Barracuda Networks, Inc., Helen of Troy Limited, Luby’s, Inc. and PriceSmart, Inc.
Stock trading is likely to be more domestically focused on Thursday after the Federal Reserve released its June Federal Open Market Committee Meeting Minutes yesterday and the market’s focus turns to the jobs data for June.
Wednesday’s Activity
In the U.S., the leading indexes were higher on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 17918.62 for a gain of 78.00 points or 0.44 percent. The S&P 500 was also higher, closing at 2099.73 for a gain of 11.18 points or 0.54 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 4859.16 for a gain of 36.26 points or 0.75 percent.
Source: DJIA, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Google Finance.
Other notable index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000, higher at 1147.44 for a gain of 7.98 points or 0.70 percent; the S&P 600 closing at 704.31 for a gain of 4.25 points or 0.61 percent; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closing at 1489.95 for a gain of 7.65 points or 0.52 percent; the Russell 3000 closing at 1236.45 for a gain of 6.70 points or 0.54 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closing at 611.78 for a gain of 2.92 points or 0.48 percent.
