U.S. stock futures are lower in pre-market trading for Thursday, July 21. The Dow Futures are down at 18516.0 for a loss of -15.00 points. The S&P 500 Futures are lower at 2166.25 for a loss of -1.25 points. The Nasdaq Futures are flat at 4651.0 for a gain of 0.50 points. The Russell Futures are showing a loss of -1.40 points at 1205.8.
In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 is higher at 16810.22 for a gain of 128.33 points or 0.77 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is higher at 22000.49 for a gain of 118.01 points or 0.54 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite is at 3039.01 for a gain of 11.11 points or 0.37 percent. India’s S&P BSE Sensex is at 27710.52 for a loss of -205.37 points or -0.74 percent. In Europe, the FTSE 100 Index is lower at 6706.13 for a loss of -22.86 points or -0.34 percent. Germany’s DAX is lower at 10138.61 for a loss of -3.40 points or -0.03 percent. France’s CAC 40 is lower at 4369.35 for a loss of -10.41 points or -0.24 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index is lower at 340.08 for a loss of -0.73 points or -0.21 percent.
Thursday’s Factors and Events
Thursday includes a full day of economic reports. Reports for the day include Jobless Claims, the Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index, the FHFA House Price Index, the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, the Existing Home Sales Report, Leading Indicators and the EIA Natural Gas Report.
Stocks trading actively in the pre-market include: Newmont Mining, Caterpillar, Facebook, Microsoft, Citigroup, Intel, Kinder Morgan, American Express, Mylan and Medtronic.
Approximately 100 publicly traded companies will report earnings on Thursday. Stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average reporting earnings for the day include Visa and Travelers.
On Thursday, the European Central Bank will announce its decision on interest rates which will highly impact market trading for the day.
Wednesday’s Activity
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18595.03 for a gain of 36.02 points or 0.19 percent. The S&P 500 was higher at 2173.02 for a gain of 9.24 points or 0.43 percent. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 reached new closing highs. The Nasdaq Composite was also higher at 5089.93 for a gain of 53.56 points or 1.06 percent.
Other notable index closes on Wednesday included the small-cap Russell 2000, higher at 1209.74 for a gain of 9.30 points or 0.77 percent; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closing at 741.33 for a gain of 4.58 points or 0.62 percent; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1549.51 for a gain of 7.33 points or 0.48 percent; the S&P 100 Index closing at 962.44 for a gain of 4.02 points or 0.42 percent; the Russell 3000 Index closing at 1281.97 for a gain of 6.07 points or 0.48 percent; the Russell 1000 Index closing at 1202.91 for a gain of 5.41 points or 0.45 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closing at 623.36 for a loss of -0.04 points or -0.01 percent.
