U.S. stock futures are higher in pre-market trading for Friday, January 05.The Nasdaq Futures are trading at 6,619.50 for up  with +0.24% percent or +16.00 point.The S&P 500 Futures are trading at 2,729.25 for up with +0.20% percent or +5.50 point.The Dow Futures are trading at 25,114.00 for up with +0.24% percent or +61.00 point.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, apan’s Nikkei 225 are trading at 23,714.53 for up with +0.89% percent or +208.20 point. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng are trading at 30,743.57  for up  with +0.02% percent or  +7.09 point. China’s Shanghai Composite are trading at 3,391.75 for up with +0.18% percent or +6.04 point. India’s BSE Sensex are trading at 34,107.88 for up with +0.41% percent or +138.24 point at 12:15 PM.The FTSE 100 are trading at 7,715.54 for up with +0.26% percent or +19.66 point. Germany’s DAX are trading at 13,307.83 for up  with +1.06% percent or  +139.94 point. France’s CAC 40 are trading at 5,454.66 for up with +0.76% percent or +40.975 point. The Stoxx Europe 600 are trading at 395.97 for up with +0.57% percent or  +2.25 point.

Friday’s Factors and Events

113.2 million wearable devices were shipped worldwide in 2017 according to research firm IDC. That’s an 8.5% increase from the 104.3 million devices shipped in 2016. But looking ahead, IDC expects annual shipments to hit 222.3 million in 2021, marking a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.4% between 2017 and 2021.

2018 should be a transformative year for the market, with first movers fending off new rivals, conflicts erupting in the hardware and software markets, and companies expanding beyond wrist-worn devices. Let’s examine these trends to see where the market is headed

Thursday’s Activity

U.S. market were higher on Thursday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 25,075.13 for up with +0.61% percent or  +152.45 point. The S&P 500 closed at 2,723.99 for up with +0.40% percent or  +10.93 point. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,077.91 for up with +0.18% percent or  +12.38 point.

Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,555.72  for up with +0.20% percent or +3.15 point; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 945.33  for up with +0.22%  percent or +2.09 point; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 1,928.45 for up with +0.26% percent or +5.09 point; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,206.26 for up with +0.46% percent or  +5.52 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,611.02  for up with  +0.36% percent or +5.83 point; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,508.82  for up with +0.38% percent or  +5.66 point; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closed at 25,075.13  for up with +0.61% percent or +152.45 point.