US PRE MARKET
The S&P 500 Futures is trading at 2,724.25 up with +0.20% percent or +5.50 point. Other U.S. stock futures higher in pre-market trading for Friday, May 18. The Dow Futures is trading at 24,759.00 up with +0.22% percent or +55.00 point. The Nasdaq Futures is trading at 6,927.75 up with +0.32% percent or +0.32% point.
FRIDAY’S FACTORS AND EVENTS
Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,625.29 up with +0.55% percent or +8.92 point; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 1,001.02 up with +0.70% percent or +6.93 point; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 1,948.28 up with +0.23% percent or +4.47 point; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,194.58 with a loss of -0.22% percent or -2.68 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,616.81 with a loss of -0.014% percent or -0.23 point; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,509.18 with a loss of -0.062% percent or -0.94 point;
WORLD MARKETS
In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 is trading at 22,930.36 up with +0.40% percent or +91.99 point. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is trading at 31,091.44 up with +0.48% percent or +149.29 point. China’s Shanghai Composite is trading at 3,187.91 up with +1.07% percent or +33.63 point. India’s BSE Sensex is trading at 34,979.46 with a loss of -0.48% percent or -169.66 point at 12:15 PM.The FTSE 100 is trading at 7,781.97 with a loss of -0.077% percent or -6.00 point. Germany’s DAX is trading at 13,093.50 with a loss of -0.16% percent or -21.11 point. France’s CAC 40 is trading at 5,612.08 with a loss of -0.17% percent or -9.83 point. The Stoxx Europe 600 is trading at 395.12 with a loss of -0.07% percent or -0.32 point.
U.S. stock index futures pointed to higher open on Friday morning, as investors continued to monitor developments in U.S.-China trade negotiations.
At around 4.40 a.m. ET, Dow futures rose 31 points, indicating a higher implied open of 30 points. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures also indicated an upbeat start to the session for their respective markets.
The moves in pre-market trade come amid elevated trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. The U.S. and China kicked off the second round of trade talks on Thursday, in the hope of averting a global trade war.
U.S. stocks closed lower in the previous session after President Donald Trump indicated an effort to diffuse tensions between the U.S. and China may not be successful. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the session off by more than 50 points, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 also dipped amid a decline in the tech sector.
.THURSDAY’S ACTIVITY