US PRE MARKET

The S&P 500 Futures are trading at 2,390.00 for up with +0.28% percent. Other U.S. stock futures are higher in pre-market trading for Thursday, May 04. The Dow Futures are trading at 20,938.00 for up with +0.28% percent . The Nasdaq Futures are trading at 5,633.62 for up with +0.36%  percent.

THURSDAY’S FACTORS AND EVENTS

U.S. government debt prices were lower on Thursday after the Federal Reserve left its interest rate unchanged.

Traders are betting the central bank will hike rates at their next meeting in June.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was higher at around 2.343 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also higher at 2.986 percent. Yields move inversely to prices.

On the data front, jobless claims fell by 19,000 to 238,000, while productivity for the first quarter fell more than expected. The U.S. trade deficit, meanwhile, narrowed to $43.7 billion. Factory orders are due at 10 a.m. ET.

 

WEDNESDAY’S ACTIVITY

 

U.S. market indexes were lower Wednesday. For the day the S&P 500 closed at 2,388.13 with a loss of –0.13% percent. The Dow Jones Industrial closed at 20,957.90 for up with +0.04% percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 6,072.55 with a loss of –0.37% percent.

Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,390.92 with a loss of -0.60% percent; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 846.43 with a loss of –0.65% percent; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 1,727.41 with a loss of –0.42% percent; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,058.31 for a up with 0.04 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,415.51 with a loss of –0.21% percent; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,323.86  with a loss of –0.18% percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closed at 20,957.90 for up with +0.04% percent.

WORLD MARKETS

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 are trading at 19,445.70 for  up with +0.70% percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng are trading at 24,683.88 with a loss of  –0.05% percent. China’s Shanghai Composite are trading at 3,127.37 with a loss of  –0.25% percent. India’s S&P BSE Sensex closed at 30,126.21 for  up with +0.77% percent. In Europe, the FTSE 100 are trading at 7,257.70 for a up with +0.32% percent. Germany’s DAX are trading at 12,631.20 for  up with +0.83% percent. France’s CAC 40 are trading at 5,355.54 for  up with +1.03% percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 are trading at 388.83 with a loss of –0.18% percent.