U.S. Market Futures Pointing Higher Ahead of Fed Meeting

U.S. stock futures are pointing higher in pre-market trading for Tuesday, September 20. The Dow Futures are at 18107.0 for a gain of 55.00 points. The S&P 500 Futures are at 2140.5 for a gain of 7.50 points. The Nasdaq Futures are at 4811.25 for a gain of 17.00 points. The Russell Futures are at 1233.9 for a gain of 4.40 points.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 is at 16492.15 for a loss of -27.14 points or -0.16 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is at 23530.86 for a loss of -19.59 points or -0.08 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite is at 3023.00 for a loss of -3.05 points or -0.10 percent. India’s S&P BSE Sensex is at 28523.20 for a loss of -111.30 points or -0.39 percent. In Europe, the FTSE 100 is at 6856.47 for a gain of 42.92 points or 0.63 percent. Germany’s DAX is at 10442.05 for a gain of 68.18 points or 0.66 percent. France’s CAC 40 is at 4409.99 for a gain of 15.80 points or 0.36 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 is at 342.10 for a gain of 0.83 points or 0.24 percent.

Tuesday’s Factors and Events

U.S. stock futures are higher in pre-market trading for Tuesday as the Federal Reserve’s two day policy meeting begins. The Fed could vote to increase rates as it seeks to slightly tighten policy in a slowly growing economy.

In the pre-market stocks trading actively include the following:

Murphy Oil

Wynn Resorts

Stericycle

Endo International

Transocean

Amphenol

NextEra Energy

FirstEnergy

Delta Air Lines

Kinder Morgan

The only leading market indicator on the economic calendar for Tuesday is Housing Starts. On watch for the day will be Wells Fargo whose CEO will testify before the Senate Banking Committee about its recent account activity. Also important will be the Bank of Japan’s central bank meeting which began Tuesday. Already in negative territory, the central bank could lower its intra-bank borrowing rates even further.

Monday’s Activity

Stocks were lower Monday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18120.17 for a loss of -3.63 points or -0.02 percent. The S&P 500 was also lower, closing at 2139.12 for a loss of -0.04 points or -0.01 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 5235.03 for a loss of -9.54 points or -0.18 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 higher at 1232.53 for a gain of 7.75 points or 0.63 percent; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index higher at 744.85 for a gain of 4.35 points or 0.59 percent; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1532.39 for a gain of 11.43 points or 0.75 percent; the S&P 100 Index at 947.35 for a loss of -1.45 points or -0.15 percent; the Russell 3000 Index at 1267.09 for a gain of 1.22 points or 0.10 percent; the Russell 1000 Index at 1186.03 for a gain of 0.63 points or 0.05 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 609.01 for a gain of 3.48 points or 0.57 percent.