U.S. Market Futures Flat as Investors Await Economic Data

U.S. stock futures are pointing lower in pre-market trading for Thursday, September 29. The Dow Futures are at 18231.0 for a loss of -7.00 points. The S&P 500 Futures are at 2161.5 for a loss of -1.75 points. The Nasdaq Futures are lower at 4863.0 for a loss of -5.25 points. The Russell Futures are lower at 1251.1 for a loss of -1.60 points.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 is at 16693.71 for a gain of 228.31 or 1.39 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is at 23739.47 for a gain of 119.82 or 0.51 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite is at 2998.48 for a gain of 10.63 points or 0.36 percent. India’s S&P BSE Sensex is at 27827.53 for a loss of -465.28 points or -1.64 percent. In Europe, the FTSE 100 is at 6920.72 for a gain of 71.34 points or 1.04 percent. Germany’s DAX is at 10512.40 for a gain of 74.06 points or 0.71 percent. France’s CAC 40 is at 4477.44 for a gain of 44.99 points or 1.02 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 is at 344.83 for a gain of 2.26 points or 0.66 percent.

Thursday’s Factors and Events

Stocks are trading mostly flat with the futures pointing to a slightly lower open on Thursday. On the economic calendar for Thursday are the following reports: GDP, International Trade, Jobless Claims, Corporate Profits and the Pending Home Sales Index.

The following stocks are trading actively in the pre-market:

Cintas

Western Digital

American Airlines

Molson Coors Brewing

Mondelez International

NRG Energy

Dentsply Sirona

Transocean

AT&T

Investors will be watching the economic data today as the Bureau of Economic Analysis releases GDP and corporate profits. With third quarter earnings reports beginning in just a few weeks, the economic reports on GDP and profit could set the tone for trading in October.

Wednesday’s Activity

 U.S. market indexes were higher Wednesday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18339.24 for a gain of 110.94 points or 0.61 percent. The S&P 500 was also higher, closing at 2171.37 for a gain of 11.44 points or 0.53 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 5318.55 for a gain of 12.84 points or 0.24 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 Index at 1255.67 for a loss of 9.29 points or 0.75 percent; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index at 758.22 for a gain of 6.88 points or 0.92 percent; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1556.95 for a gain of 12.67 points or 0.82 percent; the S&P 100 Index at 960.06 for a gain of 4.41 points or 0.46 percent; the Russell 3000 Index at 1286.90 for a gain of 7.26 points or 0.57 percent; the Russell 1000 Index at 1204.26 for a gain of 6.62 points or 0.55 percent; the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 618.73 for a gain of 4.40 points or 0.72 percent.