U.S. stock futures are pointing lower in pre-market trading for Wednesday, October 12. The Dow Futures are at 18052.0 for a loss of -18.00 points. The S&P 500 Futures are at 2133.0 for a loss of -1.50 points. The Nasdaq Futures are at 4820.25 for a loss of -6.75 points. The Russell Futures are at 1225.6 for a loss of -0.70 points.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 is at 16840.00 for a loss of -184.76 points or -1.09 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is at 23407.05 for a loss of -142.47 points or -0.60 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite is at 3058.50 for a loss of -6.75 points or -0.22 percent. India’s S&P BSE Sensex is at 28082.34 for a gain of 21.20 points or 0.08 percent. In Europe, the FTSE 100 is at 7055.10 for a loss of -15.78 points or -0.22 percent. Germany’s DAX is at 10571.66 for a loss of -5.50 points or -0.05 percent. France’s CAC 40 is at 4467.62 for a loss of -4.12 points or -0.09 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 is at 340.55 for a gain of 0.38 points or 0.11 percent.

Wednesday’s Factors and Events

Stocks are lower in pre-market trading as investors await more reports on third quarter earnings and oil prices continue to remain volatile. On the economic calendar for Wednesday are the following reports: MBA Mortgage Applications and the FOMC’s meeting minutes.

Stocks trading actively in the pre-market include the following:

Seagate Technology

Alcoa

Abbott Laboratories

Western Digital

Unum Group

Kroger

Illumina Inc

Costco Wholesale

Dover Corp

Earnings reports on the calendar for Wednesday include the following: CSX Corporation, DragonWave Inc., EXFO, Inc., Neptune Technologies & Bioresources Inc. and Saratoga Investment Corp.

Tuesday’s Activity

U.S. market indexes were lower Tuesday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18128.66 for a loss of -200.38 points or -1.09 percent. The S&P 500 was also lower, closing at 2136.73 for a loss of -26.93 points or -1.24 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 5246.79 for a loss of -81.89 points or -1.54 percent.

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Source: DJIA, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Google Finance.

Other notable index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 at 1227.67 for a loss of -23.09 points or -1.85 percent; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index at 744.37 for a loss of -12.43 points or -1.64 percent; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1521.00 for a loss of -24.86 points or -1.61 percent; the S&P 100 Index at 949.05 for a loss of -9.97 points or -1.04 percent; the Russell 3000 Index at 1264.63 for a loss of -16.69 points or -1.30 percent; the Russell 1000 Index at 1183.92 for a loss of -15.07 points or -1.26 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 599.14 for a loss of -7.68 points or -1.27 percent.