U.S. stock futures are pointing higher in pre-market trading for Monday, October 24. The Dow Futures are at 18144.0 for a gain of 78.00 points. The S&P 500 Futures are at 2144.75 for a gain of 10.00 points. The Nasdaq Futures are at 4872.0 for a gain of 28.75 points. The Russell Futures are at 1226.0 for a gain of 9.60 points.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 is at 17234.42 for a gain of 49.83 points or 0.29 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is at 23604.08 for a gain of 229.68 points or 0.98 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite is at 3128.25 for a gain of 37.31 points or 1.21 percent. India’s S&P BSE Sensex is at 28157.16 for a gain of 79.98 points or 0.28 percent. In Europe, the FTSE 100 is at 7027.40 for a gain of 6.93 points or 0.10 percent. Germany’s DAX is at 10798.14 for a gain of 87.41 points or 0.82 percent. France’s CAC 40 is at 4571.09 for a gain of 35.02 points or 0.77 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 is at 345.91 for a gain of 1.62 points or 0.47 percent.

Monday’s Factors and Events

Stocks are pointing higher after merger deal news from AT&T-Time Warner, B/E-Rockwell Collins and Ameritrade. On the economic calendar for Monday are the following reports: Chicago Fed National Activity Index and the PMI Manufacturing Index Flash. Fed speeches on the calendar for Monday include the following: William Dudley, James Bullard, Charles Evans and Jerome Powell.

Stocks trading actively in the pre-market include the following:

Chesapeake Energy

Skyworks Solutions

Synchrony Financial

KLA-Tencor Corp.

Cigna Corp.

AT&T

General Electric

Charles Schwab

Capital One Financial

Approximately 48 companies will report earnings on Monday. In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Visa will report earnings.

Friday’s Activity

U.S. market indexes were mixed on Friday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18145.71 for a loss of -16.64 points or -0.09 percent. The S&P 500 closed at 2141.16 for a loss of -0.18 points or -0.01 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 5257.40 for a gain of 15.57 points or 0.30 percent.

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

Other notable index closes included the Russell 2000 Index at 1217.71 for a loss of -2.07 points or -0.17 percent; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index at 733.89 for a loss of -1.81 points or -0.25 percent; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1526.99 for a loss of -0.93 points or -0.06 percent; the S&P 100 Index at 949.73 for a gain of 0.61 points or 0.06 percent; the Russell 3000 Index at 1266.37 for a loss of -0.10 points or -0.01 percent; the Russell 1000 Index at 1186.51 for a gain of 0.10 points or 0.01 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 599.66 for a loss of -1.26 points or -0.21 percent.