U.S. stock futures are higher in pre-market trading for Thursday, March 15.The Nasdaq Futures are trading at 7,073.75 for up with +0.22% percent or +15.75 point.The S&P 500 Futures are trading at 2,760.50 for up with +0.24% percent or +6.50 point.The Dow Futures are trading at 24,878.00 for up with +90.00 percent or +47.00 point.
In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 are trading at 21,803.95 for up with +0.12% percent or +26.66 point. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng are trading at 31,521.68 for up with +0.28% percent or +86.67 point. China’s Shanghai Composite are trading at 3,291.11 with a loss of -0.01% percent or -0.27 point. India’s BSE Sensex are trading at 33,800.18 with a loss of -0.11% percent or – 35.56 point at 12:15 PM.The FTSE 100 are trading at 7,157.06 for up with +0.34% percent or +24.37 point. Germany’s DAX are trading at 30.67 with a loss of -0.81% percent or -0.25 point. France’s CAC 40 are trading at 5,262.83 for up with +0.56% percent or +29.48 point. The Stoxx Europe 600 are trading at 376.42 for up with +0.37% percent or +1.36 point.
Thursday’s Factors and Events
The technology sector has reigned supreme over the last year. With sectorwide returns of 24%, it outperformed the next best sector, industrial goods, by 10 percentage points.
But within tech, it’s the rise of cloud computing that’s stolen the spotlight.
Cloud computing uses remote servers to store, deliver, and manage data and applications over the Internet. It eliminates the need for local servers and oftentimes the cumbersome installation involving an IT department.
Over the last year, the largest pure-play cloud companies have left the Nasdaq behind. The slowest-growing of that group has more than doubled the tech industry barometer; the fastest has quintupledthe index’s returns
Wednesday’s Activity
U.S. market were lower on Wednesday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 24,758.12 with a loss of -1.00% percent or -248.91 point. The S&P 500 closed at 2,749.48 with a loss of -0.57% percent or -15.83 point. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,496.81 with a loss of -0.19% percent or -14.20 point.
Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,584.31 with a loss of -0.49% percent or -7.74 point; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 965.18 with a loss of -0.55% percent or -5.29 point; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 1,929.28 with a loss of -0.58% percent or -11.19 point; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,211.02 with a loss of -0.60% percent or -7.29 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,628.19 with a loss of -0.55% percent or -9.00 point; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,523.97 with a loss of -0.56% percent or -8.51 point; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index closed at 24,758.12 with a loss of -1.00% percent or -248.91 point.