US PRE MARKET

The S&P 500 Futures are trading at 2,477.50 for up with +0.17% percent or +4.25 point. Other U.S. stock futures are higher in pre-market trading for Thursday, July 27. The Dow Futures are trading at 21,668.50 for up with +0.10% percent or +22.50 point. The Nasdaq Futures are trading at 5,981.88 for up with +0.57% percent or +33.88 point.

THURSDAY’S FACTORS AND EVENTS

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Thursday, as investors continued to wade through the busiest day of the earnings season.

Comcast and Dow-component Verizon are among the companies that posted quarterly results before the bell. Amazon.com and Starbucks are among the firms set to report after the close.

A slew of data is due out at 8:30 a.m. ET, including jobless claims, durable goods orders, advance economic indicators and the Chicago Fed’s National Activity Index.

 The Kansas City Fed’s manufacturing survey is set to follow that, slated to come out at 11 a.m. ET.

Meanwhile, investors are likely to still be digesting the statement made by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).

WEDNESDAY’S ACTIVITY

U.S. market indexes were higher on Wednesday. For the day The S&P 500 closed at 2,477.83 for up with +0.03% percent or +0.70 point. the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 21,711.01 for up with +0.45% percent or +97.58 point. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 6,422.75 for up with +0.16% percent or +10.57 point.

Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,442.28 with a loss of -0.56% percent or -8.11 point; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 870.23  with a loss of –0.67% percent or –5.83 point; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 1,776.69 with a loss of –0.85% percent or –15.24 point; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,091.47  for up with +0.13% percent or +1.40 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,468.56  with a loss of  –0.04% percent or –0.65 point; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,373.53  with –0.00% percent or –0.02 point; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closed at 21,711.01 for up with +0.45% percent or +97.58 point.

WORLD MARKETS

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 are trading at 20,079.64 for up with +0.15% percent or +29.48 point. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng are trading at 27,162.53 for up with +0.82% percent or +221.51 point. China’s Shanghai Composite are trading at 3,247.46 with a loss of –0.01% percent or –0.22 point. India’s S&P BSE Sensex are trading at 32,647.93 for up with +0.82% percent or +265.47 point at 12:15 PM. In Europe, the FTSE 100 are trading at 7,448.72 with a loss of –0.05% percent or –3.60 point. Germany’s DAX are trading at 12,245.52 for with a loss of –0.48% percent or –59.59 point. France’s CAC 40 are trading at 5,193.28 for up with +0.06% percent or +3.11 point. The Stoxx Europe 600 are trading at 382.60 with a loss of -0.05% percent or -0.19 point.