U.S. stock futures higher  in pre-market trading for , January 09.The Nasdaq Futures is trading at 6,579.00  up with +0.33% percent or +21.75 point.The Dow Futures is trading at 23,811.00 up with +0.29% percent or +68.00 point. The S&P 500 Futures is trading at 2,578.88  up with +0.25% percent or +6.38 point.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 is trading at 20,427.06 up with +1.10% percent or +223.02 point. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is trading at 26,446.32  up with +2.21% percent or +570.87 point. China’s Shanghai Composite is trading at 2,544.34 up with +0.71% percent or  +17.88 point. India’s BSE Sensex is trading at 36,173.73 up with +0.54% percent or +192.80 point at 12:15 PM.The FTSE 100 is trading at 6,928.46 with  up with +0.97% percent or +66.86 point. Germany’s DAX is trading at 10,909.81  up with +0.98% percent or +105.83 point. France’s CAC 40 is trading at 4,827.30  up with  +1.13% percent or +54.03 point. The Stoxx Europe 600 is trading at 348.90 up with +0.89% percent or +3.07 point.

Wednesday’s Factors and Events

Traders will likely monitor speeches from several Federal Reservepolicymakers: Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks at an event in Chattanooga, Tennessee, at 8:20 a.m. ET; Chicago Fed President Charles Evans is speaking at an event in Riverwoods, Illinois, at 9 a.m. ET; and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren will provide an economic outlook at an event in Boston, Massachusetts, at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell assuaged investor concerns last week, pledging during a panel discussion that the U.S. central bank “will be patient” with monetary policy. Investors, increasingly on edge over the possibility of a global slowdown, had feared the institution may be hiking interest rates too fervently. The Fed hiked rates four times last year, and expectations have tempered as to how many times it may raise its benchmark rate this year.

Tuesday’s Activity

For the day The Nasdaq Composite is trading at +6,897.00 up with +1.08% percent or +73.53 point.the Dow is trading at 23,787.45  up with  +1.09% percent or +256.10 point. The S&P 500 is trading at 2,574.41  up with +0.97% percent or +24.72 point.

Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,426.55 up  with +1.51% percent or +21.19 point; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 887.50  up with +1.49% percent or +13.02  point; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 1,731.63  up with +1.69% percent or +28.81 point; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,143.87 up with +0.94% percent or +10.65 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,517.14  up with +1.05% percent or +15.81 point; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,423.71 up with +1.02% percent or +14.35 point;