U.S. stock futures are lower in pre-market trading for friday, August 11.The Dow Futures are trading at 21,844.00 with a loss of -0.93% percent or -204.69 point.The S&P 500 Futures are trading at 2,438.21 with a loss of -1.45% percent or -35.81 point.The Nasdaq Futures are trading at 6,216.87 with a loss of -2.13% percent or -135.46 point.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 are trading at 19,729.74 with a loss of –0.05% percent or –8.97 point. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng are trading at 26,883.51 with a loss of –2.04% percent or –560.49 point. China’s Shanghai Composite are trading at 3,208.54 with a loss of –1.63% percent or –53.21  point. India’s S&P BSE Sensex are trading at 31,213.59 with a loss of –1.01% percent or –317.74 point at 12:15 PM. In Europe, the FTSE 100 are trading at 7,306.43 with a loss of –1.13% percent or –83.51 point. Germany’s DAX are trading at 11,984.98 with a loss of –0.24% percent or –29.32 point. France’s CAC 40 are trading at 5,057.79 with a loss of –1.12% percent or –57.44 point. The Stoxx Europe 600 are trading at 372.21 with a loss of -1.02% percent or -3.84 point.

Friday’s Factors and Events

Stocks in Asia closed lower on Friday as U.S.-North Korea geopolitical tensions came to the fore once again, keeping the demand for safe haven assets intact.

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index fell 1.69 percent, or 39.76 points, to end at 2,319.71, driven by losses in major tech and retail stocks. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix closed down 2.79 percent and 4.66 percent respectively, while department store operator Shinsegae tumbled 9.53 percent.

Offshore investors sold 287.1 billion won ($251.5 million) in Kospi-listed stocks in the previous session, the Korean Herald reported, with the information technology sector taking the brunt of the sell off.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.18 percent, or 67.833 points, to close at 5,693.100. The index’s move lower was driven by broad-based losses across most sub-indexes although gold stocks climbed. The heavily-weighted financials sub-index was 1.30 percent lower.

Thursday’s Activity

U.S. market were lower on Thursday. For the day The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 21,844.01 with a loss of –0.93% percent or –204.69 point.The S&P 500 closed at 2,438.21 with a loss of –1.45% percent or –35.81 point.The Nasdaq Composite closed at 6,216.87 with a loss of –2.13% percent or –135.46 point.

Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,372.54 with a loss of -1.75% percent or -24.40 point; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 831.33 with a loss of –1.50% percent or –12.67 point; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 1,707.83 with a loss of –1.62% percent or –28.11 point; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,079.89 with a loss of –1.39% percent or –15.25 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,439.16 with a loss of –1.49% percent or –21.70 point; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,349.25 with a loss of –1.46% percent or –20.05 point; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closed at 21,844.01 with a loss of –0.93% percent or –204.69 point.