U.S. stock futures are higher in pre-market trading for Thursday, April 12.The Dow Futures are trading at 24,177.00 for up with +0.04% percent or +10.00 point.  The S&P 500 Futures are trading at  2,642.75 for up with +0.07% percent or  +1.75 point.  The Nasdaq Futures are trading at 6,599.50 for up with +0.10% percent or +6.75 point.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 are trading at 21,660.28   with a loss of -0.12% percent or  -26.82 point. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng are trading at 30,831.28 with a loss of -0.22% percent or -66.43 point. China’s Shanghai Composite are trading at 3,180.16  with a loss of -0.87% percent or  27.92 point. India’s BSE Sensex are trading at 34,148.84 for up with +0.61% percent or  +208.40  point at 12:15 PM.The FTSE 100 are trading at 7,255.63 with a loss of  -0.02% percent or -1.51 point. Germany’s DAX are trading at 12,300.71 for up  with +0.05% percent or  +6.74 point. France’s CAC 40 are trading at 5,279.58  for up with +0.03% percent or +1.64 point. The Stoxx Europe 600 are trading at 376.25  for up  with +0.02% percent or +0.08 point.

Thursday’s Factors and Events

U.S. stock index futures posted minor gains ahead of Thursday’s open.

Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Dow futures rose 18 points, indicating an uptick of 23.55 points at the open. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 futures also indicated a slightly positive start to Thursday’s session for their respective markets.

The moves in pre-market trade come after Wall Street finished its previous session deep in the red. On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average slipped more than 200 points after President Donald Trump taunted Russia with the threat of imminent military action in Syria.

 Trump appeared to criticize the Kremlin, for the country’s support of Syrian President Bashar Assad, after a suspected chemical attack occurred in Syria over the weekend.

 Wednesday’s Activity

U.S. market were lower on Wednesday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 24,189.45   with a loss of -0.90% percent or  -218.55 point. The S&P 500 closed at 2,642.19 with a loss of -0.55% percent or -14.68 point. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,069.03   with a loss of -0.36% percent or  -25.27 point.

Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,546.80 for up  with +0.22% percent or +3.37 point; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 951.53 for up with +0.20% percent or+1.90 point; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 1,882.09 with a loss of -0.13% percent or  -2.48 point; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,160.58  with a loss of -0.65% percent or -7.56 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,567.50 with a loss of -0.46% percent or -7.17 point; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,465.45  with  a loss of -0.51% percent or -7.53 point; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closed at 24,189.45  with a loss of  -0.90% percent or -218.55 point.