US PRE MARKET
The S&P 500 Futures are trading at 2,832.00 for up with +0.22% percent or +6.25 point. Other U.S. stock futures are higher in pre-market trading for Thursday, February 31. The Dow Futures are trading at 26,146.00 for up with +0.04% percent or +10.00 point. The Nasdaq Futures are trading at 6,970.25 for up with +0.11% percent or +8.00 point.
THURSDAY’S FACTORS AND EVENTS
U.S. government debt prices were lower on Thursday, as the Federal Reserve indicated higher inflation expectations for this year.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury notes was higher at around 2.7332 percent at 4:35 a.m. ET, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also higher at 2.9560 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
During Janet Yellen’s last meeting as chair of the Fed on Wednesday, policymakers indicated that market-based measures of inflation had increased in recent months and it expected prices to move higher in the next 12 months. The comments sent yields higher as some traders believe that the Fed will increase rates at a faster pace.
WEDNESDAY’S ACTIVITY
U.S. market were higher on Wednesday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 26,149.39 for up with +0.28% percent or +72.50 point. The S&P 500 closed at 2,823.81 for up with +0.05% percent or +1.38 point. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,411.48 for up with +0.12% percent or +9.00 point.
Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,574.98 with a loss of –0.49% percent or -7.83 point; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 959.39 with a loss of -0.54% percent or -5.22 point; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 1,953.97 with a loss of -0.18% percent or -3.49 point; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,251.42 with a loss of -0.04% percent or -0.51 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,664.68 with 0.00% percent or -0.07 point; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,561.66 for up with +0.04% percent or -+0.55 point; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closed at 26,149.39 for up with +0.28% percent or +72.50 point.
WORLD MARKETS
In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere,Japan’s Nikkei 225 are trading at 23,486.11 for up with +1.68% percent or +387.82 point. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng are trading at 32,642.09 with a loss of -0.75% percent or -245.18 point. China’s Shanghai Composite are trading at 3,446.98 with a loss of -0.97% percent or -33.85 point. India’s BSE Sensex are trading at 36,178.55 for up with +0.59% percent or +213.53 point at 12:15 PM.The FTSE 100 are trading at 7,543.08 for up with +0.13% percent or +9.53 point. Germany’s DAX are trading at 13,232.55 for up with +0.33% percent or +43.07 point. France’s CAC 40 are trading at 5,502.97 for up with +0.38% percent or +21.05 point. The Stoxx Europe 600 are trading at 397.04 for up with +0.40% percent or +1.64 point.