U.S. stock futures are pointing lower in pre-market trading for Wednesday, August 3. The Dow Futures are at 18214.0 for a gain of -34.00 points. The S&P 500 Futures are at 2149.25 for a loss of -3.50 points. The Nasdaq Futures are lower at 4705.5 for a loss of -8.75 points. The Russell Futures are also lower at 1198.4 for a loss of -1.50 points.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere Japan’s Nikkei 225 is lower at 16083.11 for a loss of -308.34 points or -1.88 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is lower at 21739.12 for a loss of -390.02 points or -1.76 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite is higher at 2978.46 for a gain of 7.18 points or 0.24 percent. India’s S&P BSE Sensex is lower at 27697.51 for a loss of -284.20 points or -1.02 percent. In Europe, the FTSE 100 Index is lower at 6630.86 for a loss of -14.54 points or -0.22 percent. Germany’s DAX is lower at 10140.13 for a loss of -4.21 points or -0.04 percent. France’s CAC 40 is lower at 4309.95 for a loss of -18.04 points or -0.42 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index is lower at 335.25 for a loss of -0.22 points or -0.07 percent.

Wednesday’s Factors and Events

A number of economic reports are on the calendar for Wednesday including: the MBA Mortgage Applications Report, the ADP Employment Report, the Gallup U.S. Job Creation Index and the EIA Petroleum Status Report. Also in focus for Wednesday will be the PMI Services Index and the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index.

Approximately 275 companies will be reporting earnings on Wednesday. Investors will be closely watching the ADP Employment report as it provides insight on hiring in the private sector ahead of Friday’s jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The expectation for the ADP jobs report is an increase of 165,000 jobs in the private sector. Last month’s ADP report showed an increase of 172,000 jobs.

Stocks trading actively in pre-market trading include the following: Time Warner, Bank of America, Ford, Carnival Corp., General Motors, Biogen, Microsoft, Facebook, Morgan Stanley and Newmont Mining.

Tuesday’s Activity

For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18313.77 for a loss of -90.74 points or -0.49 percent. The S&P 500 closed lower at 2157.03 for a loss of -13.81 points or -0.64 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 5137.73 for a loss of -46.46 points or -0.90 percent.

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

Other notable index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index, lower at 1202.35 for a loss of -16.78 points or -1.38 percent; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index, lower at 732.50 for a loss of -10.78 points or -1.45 percent; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index, closing at 1537.29 for a loss of -17.79 points or -1.14 percent; the S&P 100 Index, closing at 957.12 for a loss of -4.67 points or -0.49 percent; the Russell 3000 Index, closing at 1273.01 for a loss of -9.45 points or -0.74 percent; the Russell 1000 Index, closing at 1194.42 for a loss of -8.24 points or -0.69 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index, closing at 617.45 for a loss of -4.11 points or -0.66 percent.