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

U.S. stock futures are pointing higher in premarket trading for Tuesday, November 1. The Dow Futures are at 18102.0 for a gain of 40.00 points. The S&P 500 Futures are at 2126.25 for a gain of 6.25 points. The Nasdaq Futures are at 4808.25 for a gain of 11.50 points. The Russell Futures are at 1192.8 for a gain of 3.50 points.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, indexes in Asia Pacific were at the following:

Japan’s Nikkei 225 at 17442.40 for a gain of 0.10 percent

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng at 23147.07 for a gain of 0.93 percent

China’s Shanghai Composite at 3122.44  for a gain of 0.71 percent

India’s S&P BSE Sensex at 27876.61 for a gain of -0.19 percent

In Europe:

FTSE 100 at 6973.06 for a gain of 0.27 percent

Germany’s DAX at 10690.24 for a gain of 0.24 percent

France’s CAC 40 at 4518.15 for a gain of 0.20 percent

Stoxx Europe 600 at 339.26 for a gain of 0.09 percent

Tuesday’s Factors and Events

Stocks are pointing higher as earnings continue and the Fed begins its two-day policy meeting. On the economic calendar for Tuesday are the following reports: Motor Vehicle Sales, PMI Manufacturing Index, ISM Manufacturing Index and Construction Spending.

Stocks trading actively in the premarket include the following:

Franklin Resources

Affiliated Managers

Range Resources

General Electric

L Brands Inc.

Roper Technologies

Johnson Controls

Stryker Corp

PepsiCo Inc

Approximately 200 companies will report earnings on Tuesday. The focus for the day will be on automakers and the auto sales report.

Monday’s Activity

U.S. market indexes were lower Monday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18142.42 for a loss of -18.77 points or -0.10 percent. The S&P 500 closed at 2126.15 for a loss of -0.26 points or -0.01 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 5189.13 for a loss of -0.97 points or -0.02 percent.

untitled

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

Other notable index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index at 1191.39 for a gain of 0.32; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index at 722.59 for a gain of 0.55 percent; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1509.46 for a gain of 0.65 percent; the S&P 100 Index at 943.87  for a gain of -0.15 percent; the Russell 3000 Index at 1255.18 for a gain of 0.04 percent; the Russell 1000 Index at 1177.22 for a gain of 0.02 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 602.32 for a gain of 0.72 percent.