U.S. stock futures are pointing higher in pre-market trading for Wednesday, July 27. The Dow Futures are at 18437.0 for a gain of 39.00 points. The S&P 500 Futures are at 2167.0 for a gain of 3.75 points. The Nasdaq Futures are higher at 4695.0 for a gain of 31.25 points. The Russell Futures are higher at 1215.7 for a gain of 1.70 points.
In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere Japan’s Nikkei 225 was higher at 16664.82 for a gain of 281.78 points or 1.72 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was higher at 22218.99 for a gain of 89.26 points or 0.40 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite was higher at 2992.00 for a loss of -58.17 points or -1.91 percent. India’s S&P BSE Sensex was higher at 28024.33 for a gain of 47.81 points or 0.17 percent. In Europe the FTSE 100 was higher at 6751.93 for a gain of 27.90 points or 0.41 percent. Germany’s DAX was higher at 10330.71 for a gain of 82.95 points or 0.81 percent. France’s CAC 40 was higher at 4462.56 for a gain of 67.79 points or 1.54 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 was higher at 343.20 for a gain of 1.94 points or 0.57 percent.
Wednesday’s Factors and Events
On Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee will finish its two-day meeting which will end with a statement on Wednesday afternoon. The FOMC’s report will give greater insight into its direction on monetary policy for the months ahead.
On the economic calendar on Wednesday, the following reports will be released: MBA Mortgage Applications, Durable Goods Orders, Pending Home Sales Index, EIA Petroleum Status Report.
Stocks trading actively in the pre-market include the following: Edwards Lifesciences, Apple, Facebook, Gilead Sciences, Microsoft, Linear Technology, Southwest Airlines, Yahoo! Inc. and eBay.
Approximately 300 publicly traded companies will report earnings on Wednesday. In the Dow Jones Industrial Average leading reports will be from Boeing and Coca-Cola.
Tuesday’s Activity
On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was lower at 18473.75 for a loss of -19.31 points or -0.10 percent. The S&P 500 was higher at 2169.18 for a gain of 0.70 points or 0.03 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 5110.05 for a gain of 12.42 points or 0.24 percent.
Other notable index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000, higher at 1216.86 for a gain of 7.04 points or 0.58 percent; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index higher at 743.72 for a gain of 4.53 points or 0.61 percent; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1554.71 for a gain of 7.91 points or 0.51 percent; the S&P 100 Index at 957.09 for a loss of -2.08 points or -0.22 percent; the Russell 3000 Index at 1281.29 for a gain of 1.50 points or 0.12 percent; the Russell 1000 Index at 1201.65 for a gain of 0.95 points or 0.08 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 623.22 for a loss of -0.46 points or -0.07 percent.
