U.S. stock futures are pointing lower in premarket trading for Wednesday, November 2. The Dow Futures are at 17897.0 for a loss of -42.00 points. The S&P 500 Futures are at 2099.75 for a loss of -4.00 points. The Nasdaq Futures are at 4749.5 for a loss of -7.75 points. The Russell Futures are at 1171.4 for a loss of -2.70 points.

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

Japan’s Nikkei 225 at 17134.68 for a loss of -307.72 points or -1.76 percent

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng at 22810.50 for a loss of -336.57 points or -1.45 percent

China’s Shanghai Composite at 3102.73 for a loss of -19.70 points or -0.63 percent

India’s S&P BSE Sensex at 27527.22 for a loss of -349.39 points or -1.25 percent

In Europe indexes were at the following:

FTSE 100 at 6891.35 for a loss of -25.79 points or -0.37 percent

Germany’s DAX at 10427.68 for a loss of -98.48 points or -0.94 percent

France’s CAC 40 at 4436.78 for a loss of -33.50 points or -0.75 percent

Stoxx Europe 600 at 333.32 for a loss of -2.01 points or -0.60 percent

Wednesday’s Factors and Events

Investors will be anxiously awaiting Wednesday afternoon’s FOMC announcement. Election uncertainty also has stocks lower in the premarket. On the economic calendar for Wednesday are the following reports: MBA Mortgage Applications, ADP Employment Report and the EIA Petroleum Status Report.

Stocks trading actively in the premarket include the following:

Pitney Bowes

Southwestern Energy

Tesoro

CenturyLink

Fidelity National

Approximately 360 companies will report earnings on Wednesday. On watch for Wednesday will be Electronic Arts and Square both reporting positive earnings Tuesday. Investors will also be looking ahead to Thursday’s Bank of England monetary policy meeting and Friday’s jobs report.

Tuesday’s Activity

U.S. market indexes were lower Tuesday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18037.10 for a loss of -105.32 points or -0.58 percent. The S&P 500 closed at 2111.72 for a loss of -14.43 points or -0.68 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 5153.58 for a loss of -35.56 points or -0.69 percent.

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

Other notable index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index at 1177.94 for a loss of -13.45 points or -1.13 percent; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index at 712.77 for a loss of -9.82 points or -1.36 percent; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1494.01 for a loss of -15.45 points or -1.02 percent; the S&P 100 Index at 938.36 for a loss of -5.51 points or -0.58 percent; the Russell 3000 Index at 1246.31 for a loss of -9.10 points or -0.72 percent; the Russell 1000 Index at 1169.30 for a loss of -8.16 points or -0.69 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 594.57 for a loss of -7.75 points or -1.29 percent.