US PRE MARKET

The S&P 500 Futures is trading at 2,639.88  up with +0.18% percent or +4.63 point.   Other U.S. stock futures higher in pre-market trading for  January 18.The Dow Futures is trading at 24,390.50 up with +0.29% percent or +69.50 point.The Nasdaq Futures is trading at 6,733.12 up with +0.20% percent or +13.12 point.

FRIDAY’S FACTORS AND EVENTS

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the U.S. could ease trade tariffs against China. The suggestion reportedly came from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, but faced pushback from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Wall Street rallied on the news but pared some of those gains after a senior government official told CNBC that Mnuchin had not made any such recommendations.

Elsewhere, at 9:05 a.m. ET, the New York Fed President John Williams will speak in Somerset, New Jersey. Slightly after that, at 11:00 a.m. ET, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker will address a Symposium in Philadelphia.

THURSDAY’S ACTIVITY

For the day the Dow is trading at 24,207.16 up with +0.59% percent or +141.57 point. The S&P 500 is trading at 2,616.10 up with +0.22% percent or +5.80 point. The Nasdaq Composite is trading at +7,034.69 up with +0.15% percent or +10.86 point.

Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,467.25  up with +0.86% percent or +12.55 point; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 915.13 up with +0.91% percent or +8.29  point; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 1,792.20 up with +0.92% percent or +16.30 point; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,167.86  up with +0.68% percent or +7.92 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,555.35  up with +0.78% percent or + 12.00 point; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,459.19  up with +0.77% percent or +11.16 point.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 is trading at 20,402.27 with a loss of -0.20% percent or -40.48 point. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is trading at 26,799.15  with a loss of -0.38% percent or -102.95 point. China’s Shanghai Composite is trading at 2,559.64  with a loss of -0.42% percent or  -10.79 point. India’s BSE Sensex is trading at 36,329.46  up with +0.022% percent or +8.17 point at 12:15 PM.The FTSE 100 is trading at 6,915.23 up with +1.17% percent or +80.31 point. Germany’s DAX is trading at 11,029.11 up with +1.01% percent or +110.49 point. France’s CAC 40 is trading at 4,848.69  up with +1.13% percent or +54.33 point. The Stoxx Europe 600 is trading at 354.19 up with +0.99% percent or +3.53 point.