U.S. stock futures are mixed in pre-market trading for wednesday, February 21. The Nasdaq Futures are trading at 6,797.25 for up with +0.10% percent or +6.75 point.The S&P 500 Futures are trading at 2,711.50 with a loss of -0.09% percent or -2.50 point.The Dow Futures are trading at 24,917.00 with a loss of -0.12% percent or -31.00 point.
In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 are trading at 21,970.81 for up with +0.21% percent or +45.71 point. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng are trading at 31,439.04 for up with +1.83% percent or +565.41 point. China’s Shanghai Composite are trading at 3,199.16 for up with +0.45% percent or +14.20 point. India’s BSE Sensex are trading at 33,750.16 for up with +0.14% percent or +46.57 point at 12:15 PM.The FTSE 100 are trading at 7,231.33 with a loss of -0.21% percent or -15.44 point. Germany’s DAX are trading at 12,419.18 with a loss of -0.55% percent or -68.72 point. France’s CAC 40 are trading at 5,273.40 with a loss of -0.31% percent or -16.45 point. The Stoxx Europe 600 are trading at 378.78 with a loss of -0.46% percent or -1.76 point.
Wednesday’s Factors and Events
There’s a good reason Walmart (NYSE: WMT) , Kroger (NYSE: KR) , and other supermarket chains are rapidly building out their online grocery options: Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) is running away with the category, and as more grocery shopping moves online, it may develop an impenetrable lead over the competition.
In theory, Amazon shouldn’t be doing so well. Walmart has some 4,000 stores that effectively can serve as distribution centers for the retail king, and they’ve bolstered its digital growth plans, leading to 50% growth in net e-commerce sales in the third quarter. Although that includes all products Walmart sells online, Slice Intelligence noted that in the second quarter Walmart Grocery made up more of its U.S. e-commerce sales than Sam’s Club and Jet.com combined and that its own growth was likely the catalyst for Amazon buying Whole Foods.
Tuesday’s Activity
U.S. market were lower on Tuesday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 24,964.75 with a loss of -1.01% percent or -254.63 point. The S&P 500 closed at 2,716.26 with a loss of -0.58% percent or -15.96 point. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,234.31 with a loss of -0.07% percent or -5.16 point.
Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,529.99 with a loss of -0.88% percent or -13.56 point; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 932.94 with a loss of -0.97% percent or -9.11 point; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 1,888.27 with a loss of -0.68% percent or – 12.92 point; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,200.71 with a loss of -0.68% percent or -8.17 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,603.98 with a loss of -0.59% percent or 9.57 point; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,503.74 with a loss of -0.57% percent or -8.62 point; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closed at 24,964.75 with a loss of -1.01% percent or -254.63 point.