U.S. stock futures are pointing higher in pre-market trading for Thursday, July 28. The Dow Futures are at 18405.0 for a gain of 15.00 points. The S&P 500 Futures are at 2163.0 for a gain of 2.50 points. The Nasdaq Futures are higher at 4710.25 for a gain of 2.50 points. The Russell Futures are higher at 1216.5 for a gain of 0.60 points.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere Japan’s Nikkei 225 is at 16476.84 for a loss of -187.98 or -1.13 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is at 22174.34 for a loss of -44.65 points or -0.20 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite is at 2994.32 for a gain of 2.32 points or 0.08 percent. India’s S&P BSE Sensex is at 28208.62 for a gain of 184.29 points or 0.66 percent. In Europe, the FTSE 100 is at 6727.05 for a loss of -23.38 points or -0.35 percent. Germany’s DAX is at 10310.27 for a loss of -9.28 points or -0.09 percent. France’s CAC 40 is at 4434.51 for a loss of -12.45 points or -0.28 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 is at 341.07 for a loss of -1.67 points or -0.49 percent.

Thursday’s Factors and Events

On Thursday, the following reports are on the economic calendar: International Trade in Goods, Jobless Claims, the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, the EIA Natural Gas Report, the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index, the Fed Balance Sheet and the Money Supply.

In pre-market trading, the following stocks are trading actively: Facebook, Oracle, Varian Medical, Alphabet, Amazon, Amgen and Bank of America.

Over 400 publicly traded companies will report earnings on Thursday. Also on Thursday, the market will continue to react to the Fed’s decision Wednesday to leave its federal funds rate unchanged. An increase could likely occur in September as the Fed reported strengthening in the economy and a focus on tightening policy.

Wednesday’s Activity

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18472.17 for a loss of -1.58 points or -0.01 percent. The S&P 500 was also down, closing at 2166.58 for a loss of -2.60 points or -0.12 percent. Technology stocks were mostly higher Wednesday. The Nasdaq Composite gained 29.76 points or 0.58 percent to close at 5139.81.

Other notable index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index, higher at 1218.92 for a gain of 2.06 points or 0.17 percent; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index higher at 745.31 for a gain of 1.59 points or 0.21 percent; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index lower at 1548.49 for a loss of -6.22 points or -0.40 percent; the S&P 100 Index higher at 958.59 for a gain of 1.50 points or 0.16 percent; the Russell 3000 Index lower at 1279.61 for a loss of -1.68 points or -0.13 percent; the Russell 1000 Index lower at 1199.79 for a loss of -1.87 points or -0.16 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closed at 621.05 for a loss of -2.17 points or -0.35 percent.