US PRE MARKET
The S&P 500 Futures are trading at 2,503.88 with a loss of -0.05% percent or -1.37 point. Other U.S. stock futures are lower in pre-market trading for Thursday, September 21. The Dow Futures are trading at 22,368.00 with a loss of -0.04% percent or -8.00 point. The Nasdaq Futures are trading at 5,974.13 with a loss of -0.07% percent or -4.87 point.
THURSDAY’S FACTORS AND EVENTS
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly lower open on Thursday morning, after the Federal Reserve opted to start shrinking its balance sheet and signaled one more interest rate hike this year.
On the data front, initial claims and the Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s Business index for September were both to be reported at around 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Federal Finance Housing Agency (FHFA) home price index and leading indicators are both due out later on Thursday morning.
In oil markets, Brent crude traded at around $56.13 a barrel on Thursday morning, down 0.28 percent, while U.S. crude was around $50.43 a barrel, down 0.51 percent.
WEDNESDAY’S ACTIVITY
U.S. market were higher on Wednesday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 22,412.59 for up with +0.19% percent or +41.79 point. The S&P 500 closed at 2,508.24 for up with +0.06% percent or +1.59 point. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 6,456.04 with a loss of –0.08% percent or –5.28 point.
Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,445.42 for up with +0.35% percent or +5.02 point; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 869.16 for up with +0.37% percent or +3.18 point; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 1,766.97 for up with +0.31% percent or +5.45 point; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,110.16 for up with +0.08% percent or +0.90 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,485.49 for up with +0.11% percent or +1.70 point; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,390.43 for up with +0.09% percent or +1.32 point; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closed at 22,412.59 for up with +0.19% percent or +41.79 point.
WORLD MARKETS
In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, JJapan’s Nikkei 225 are trading at 20,347.48 for up with +0.18% percent or +37.02 point. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng are trading at 28,110.33 for up with +0.19% percent or +53.61 point. China’s Shanghai Composite are trading at 3,366.00 with a loss of –0.06% percent or –17.47 point. India’s BSE Sensex are trading at 32,361.10 with a loss of –0.12% percent or –39.41 point at 12:15 PM. The FTSE 100 are trading at 7,266.94 with a loss of –0.07% percent or –5.10 point. Germany’s DAX are trading at 12,609.25 for up with +0.32% percent or +40.08 point. France’s CAC 40 are trading at 5,269.30 for up with +0.53% percent or +27.64 point. The Stoxx Europe 600 are trading at 382.71 for up with +0.19% percent or +0.75 point.