US PRE MARKET

The S&P 500 Futures is trading at 3,239.91 up with +0.51% percent or +16.53 point. Other U.S. stock futures higher in pre-market trading for  Dec 27.The Dow Futures is trading at 28,621.40 up with +0.37% percent or +105.94 point.The Nasdaq Futures is trading at 9,022.39 up with +0.78%  percent or +69.51 point.

FRIDAY’S FACTORS AND EVENTS

Now that the ghosts of Christmas Eve 2018 are exorcised, stocks look poised to hop on Santa’s back and rally out 2019.

The upward momentum continued on this low volume, post-Christmas session, which also included a new round of all-time highs and another psychological milestone.

At this time of year, everyone wants to know about the holiday shopping season. Will the U.S. consumer, who makes up the lion’s share of our economy, be able to keep the good times going?

Well, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) says… yes! (And when it comes to shopping, you REALLY want to listen to what Amazon has to say.)

The NASDAQ got a nice boost from Amazon on Thursday as it jumped 0.78% (or nearly 70 points) to 9022.39. Therefore, not only did the index reach a new record, but it also closed above 9,000 for the first time ever

THURSDAY’S ACTIVITY

For the day the Dow is trading at 28,621.39  up with +0.37% percent or  +105.94 point. The S&P 500 is trading at 3,239.91 up with +0.51% percent or +16.53 point. The Nasdaq Composite is trading at 9,022.39 up with +0.78% percent or +69.51  point.

Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,677.67 with a loss of -0.02%  percent or -0.34 point; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 1,023.70  with a loss of –0.097% percent or -0.99 point; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 2,067.33 up with +0.29% percent or +5.97   point; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,447.27 up with +0.71% percent or +10.17 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,898.24 up with +0.46% percent or +8.60 point; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,789.56 up with +0.49% or +8.71 point.

In other parts of world, Japan’s Nikkei 225 is trading at 23,837.72 with a loss of –0.36% percent or -87.20 point. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is trading at 28,182.42  up with +1.14% percent or +318.21 point. China’s Shanghai Composite is trading at 3,005.63  with a loss of –0.058% percent or –1.73   point. India’s BSE Sensex is trading at 41,444.58 up with +0.68% percent or +280.82 point at 12:15 PM.Germany’s DAX is trading at 13,356.01  up with +0.41% percent or +55.03 point. France’s CAC 40 is trading at 6,057.87  up  with +0.47% percent or +28.32 point. The Stoxx Europe 600 is trading at 420.15 up with +0.31% percent or +1.29  point.