U.S. stock futures are pointing higher in pre-market trading for Monday, August 1. The Dow Futures are at 18374.0 for a gain of 12.00 points. The S&P 500 Futures are at 2169.0 for a gain of 0.75 points. The Nasdaq Futures are higher at 4727.25 for a gain of 0.50 points. The Russell Futures are at 1219.1 for a gain of 2.10 points.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere Japan’s Nikkei 225 is at 16635.77 for a gain of 66.50 points or 0.40 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is at 22129.14 for a gain of 237.77 points or 1.09 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite is lower at 2953.39 for a loss of -25.95 points or -0.87 percent. India’s S&P BSE Sensex is lower at 28003.12 for a loss of -48.74 points or -0.17 percent. In Europe, the FTSE 100 is at 6719.82 for a loss of -4.61 points or -0.07 percent. Germany’s DAX is at 10354.69 for a gain of 17.19 points or 0.17 percent. France’s CAC 40 is at 4417.26 for a loss of -22.55 points or -0.51 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index is at 340.55 for a loss of -1.34 points or -0.39 percent.

Monday’s Factors and Events

On the economic calendar for Monday is the PMI Manufacturing Index, the ISM Manufacturing Index, Construction Spending and the Gallup US Consumer Spending Measure.

Stocks actively trading in the pre-market included the following: General Electric, Applied Materials, Alphabet, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, eBay, Transocean, Leucadia National, Celgene and Facebook.

Second quarter earnings reports are beginning to slow with only 90 companies reporting earnings on Monday.

With stock futures pointing higher it seems the beginning of the new month will be off to a good start for equity investors. Tesla and SolarCity will be on watch this week as the two companies are likely to merge under the direction of Elon Musk. Technology stocks overall will also be on watch as the Nasdaq rose four out of five days last week, finishing the week with a gain of 1.2 percent.

Friday’s Activity

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18432.24 for a loss of -24.11 or -0.13 percent. The S&P 500 was higher, closing at 2173.60 for a gain of 3.54 points or 0.16 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 5162.13 for a gain of 7.15 points or 0.14 percent.

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

Other notable index closes in the U.S. included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index, higher at 1219.94 for a gain of 2.62 points or 0.22 percent; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index, higher at 743.98 for a gain of 1.12 points or 0.15 percent; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index, higher at 1559.46 for a gain of 6.02 points or 0.39 percent; the S&P 100 Index closing at 961.75 for a gain of 2.15 points or 0.22 percent; the Russell 3000 Index closing at 1284.27 for a gain of 2.49 points or 0.19 percent; the Russell 1000 Index closing at 1204.43 for a gain of 2.32 points or 0.19 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closing at 623.71 for a gain of 1.91 points or 0.31 percent.