US PRE MARKET

The S&P 500 Futures are trading at 2,549.25 with a loss of -0.15% percent or -3.75 point. Other U.S. stock futures are higher in pre-market trading for Thursday, October 12. The Dow Futures are trading at 22,798.50   with a loss of –0.08% percent or -17.50 point. The Nasdaq Futures are trading at 6,080.13 with a loss of -0.02% percent or -1.50 point.

THURSDAY’S FACTORS AND EVENTS

On Thursday, investors are likely to be still be digesting the latest minutes published by the Federal Open Market Committee, after Wall Street finished higher Wednesday following the release.

 In the latest FOMC minutes, the U.S. central bank indicated that an interest rate hike later in 2017 was almost certain, even if low inflation continues to weigh on sentiment. The minutes are expected to be of key importance Thursday as leading members of the Fed are set to deliver speeches.

In other news, U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Thursday, to promote health care choice and competition.

In commodities, crude prices fell into the red in morning trade, following news that U.S. fuel inventories had risen.

The U.S. Treasury is set to auction $12 billion in 29-year and 10-month bonds on Thursday. The size of two individual bills auctions and one Treasury inflation protected securities (TIPS) auction will also be announced.

WEDNESDAY’S ACTIVITY

U.S. market were  higher on Tuesday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 22,830.68 for up  with  +0.31% percent or  +69.61 point. The S&P 500 closed at 2,550.64    for up with  +0.23% percent or  +5.91 point. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 6,587.25 for up with  +0.11% percent or  +7.52 point.

Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,508.01  for up with +0.30% percent or +4.44 point; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 912.50 for up  with  +0.20% percent or + 1.78 point; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 1,818.58   for up with +0.30% percent or  +5.41 point; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,126.49  for up with  +0.26% percent or  +2.88 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,513.96  for up with +0.23% percent or +3.47 point; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,414.31 for up with +0.22% percent or +3.16 point; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closed at 22,830.68  for up with +0.31% percent or +69.61 point.

WORLD MARKETS

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere,   Japan’s Nikkei 225 are trading at 20,881.27  for up with +0.28% percent or +57.76 point. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng are trading at 28,440.42   with a loss of  –0.18% percent or  –50.41 point. China’s Shanghai Composite are trading at 3,388.28   for up with  +0.16%  percent or  +5.30  point. India’s BSE Sensex are trading at 32,042.00   for up with  +0.37%  percent or  +117.59 point at 12:15 PM .The FTSE 100 are trading at 7,521.70  with a loss of – 0.22% percent or –16.57 point. Germany’s DAX are trading at 12,951.08   for up with +0.01% percent or  +1.83 point. France’s CAC 40 are trading at 5,349.71 with a loss of –0.26% percent or  –13.93 point. The Stoxx Europe 600 are trading at 389.77 with a loss of -0.10% percent or  -0.39 point.