U.S. stock futures are pointing higher in pre-market trading for Monday, September 5. The Dow Futures are higher at 18496.0 for a gain of 16.00 points. The S&P 500 Futures are higher at 2180.25 for a gain of 2.25 points. The Nasdaq Futures are higher at 4798.0 for a gain of 2.75 points. The Russell Futures are higher at 1252.6 for a gain of 1.20 points.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 is at 17037.63 for a gain of 111.95 points or 0.66 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is at 23649.55 for a gain of 382.85 points or 1.65 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite is at 3072.10 for a gain of 4.74 points or 0.15 percent. India’s S&P BSE Sensex is at 28532.11 for a gain of 108.63 points or 0.38 percent. In Europe, the FTSE 100 is at 6886.87 for a loss of -7.73 points or -0.11 percent. Germany’s DAX is at 10717.10 for a gain of 33.28 points or 0.31 percent. France’s CAC 40 is at 4562.10 for a gain of 19.93 points or 0.44 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 is at 351.31 for a gain of 0.87 points or 0.25 percent.

Monday’s Factors and Events

The U.S. stock market is closed Monday for the Labor Day Holiday. Market futures are trading until 1:00 PM EST.

The futures are pointing higher Monday with a potentially positive start to the week. Stocks are likely to be volatile in September ahead of the Federal Reserve’s September 20 and 21 meeting on monetary policy. The Fed has indicated it has more aggressive plans for raising the federal funds rate which could mean a rate increase in September and December.

The market will continue to watch the economic indicators closely for direction. Economic reports on the calendar for Tuesday when the market reopens, include the following:

Gallup US Consumer Spending Measure

PMI Services Index

ISM Non-Mfg Index

Labor Market Conditions Index

TD Ameritrade IMX

Gallup US ECI

Friday’s Activity

Stocks traded higher Friday after the jobs report showed an increase of 151,000 jobs in August and no change to the unemployment rate at 4.9%. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18491.96 for a gain of 72.66 points or 0.39 percent. The S&P 500 was also higher, closing at 2179.98 for a gain of 9.12 points or 0.42 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 5249.90 for a gain of 22.69 points or 0.43 percent.

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

Other notable index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000, higher at 1251.83 for a gain of 12.03 points or 0.97 percent; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index, higher at 761.87 for a gain of 8.76 points or 1.16 percent; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1578.68 for a gain of 15.10 points or 0.97 percent; the S&P 100 Index at 963.67 for a gain of 3.43 points or 0.36 percent; the Russell 3000 Index at 1291.22 for a gain of 6.50 points or 0.51 percent; the Russell 1000 Index at 1208.94 for a gain of 5.64 points or 0.47 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 618.94 for a gain of 5.38 points or 0.88 percent.