US PRE MARKET

The S&P 500 Futures is trading at 2,997.88  up  with +0.05% percent or +1.62 point.  Other U.S. stock futures higher in pre-market trading for  July 19. The Dow Futures is trading at 27,235.00 up with +0.12% percent or +34.00 point. The Nasdaq Futures is trading at 7,939.88 up with +0.09% percent or +7.38 point.

FRIDAY’S FACTORS AND EVENTS

His comments sparked further expectations of a rate cut this month when the Federal Reserve meets. However, a New York Fed spokeswoman cautioned against reading too much into the comments. “This was an academic speech on 20 years of research. It was not about potential policy actions at the upcoming FOMC meeting,” a spokesperson for the New York Federal Reserve told CNBC.

On the data front, the calendar is thin with only July pre-Consumer sentiment numbers due at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Elsewhere, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren will speak at 4:30 p.m. ET and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard will attend a panel discussion at 11:10 a.m. ET.

THURSDAY’S ACTIVITY

For the day the Dow is trading at 27,222.97  up with +0.011% percent or +3.12 point. The S&P 500 is trading at 2,995.11 up with +0.36%percent or +10.69 point. The Nasdaq Composite is trading at 8,207.24 up with +0.27% percent or +22.04 point.

Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,555.62  up with +0.31% percent or +4.85 point; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 942.66 up with +0.19% percent or +1.78 point; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 1,943.60  up with +0.32% percent or +6.13 point; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,323.72  up with +0.29% percent or +3.87 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,760.16 up  with +0.35% percent or +6.16 point; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,659.38  up with +0.35% or +5.86 point.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, In other parts of world,  Japan’s Nikkei 225 is trading at 21,466.99  up with +2.00% percent or +420.75 point. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is trading at 28,752.74 up with +1.02% percent or +291.08 point. China’s Shanghai Composite is trading at 2,924.20  up with +0.79% percent or +23.02 point. India’s BSE Sensex is trading at 38,522.36   with a loss of -0.96% percent or -374.62 point at 12:15 PM.The FTSE 100 is trading at 7,495.75  up with +0.036% percent or +2.66 point. Germany’s DAX is trading at 12,229.47   up with  +0.013% percent or +1.62 point. France’s CAC 40 is trading at 5,547.96  with a loss of -0.046% percent or -2.58 point. The Stoxx Europe 600 is trading at 386.85   up with +0.01% percent or +0.05 point.