U.S. stock futures higher in pre-market trading for,Dec 18.The Nasdaq Futures is trading  at 8,613.62 up with +0.10%  percent or +8.37 point.The Dow Futures is trading at 28,312.50  up with +0.10% percent or +28.50 point.The S&P 500 Futures is trading at 3,198.62 up with +0.10% percent or +3.12 point.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere,In other parts of world, Japan’s Nikkei 225 is trading at 23,934.43 with a loss of –0.55% percent or -131.69 point. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is trading at 27,806.16  with a loss of –0.13% percent or –37.55 point. China’s Shanghai Composite is trading at 3,014.57  with a loss of –0.26% percent or –7.85 point. India’s BSE Sensex is trading at 41,445.14 up with +0.22% percent or +92.97 point at 12:15 PM.Germany’s DAX is trading at 13,269.68  with a loss of –0.14% percent or –18.15 point. France’s CAC 40 is trading at 5,978.77  up with +0.18% percent or +10.51 point. The Stoxx Europe 600 is trading at 415.63  up with +0.17% percent or +0.71   point.

Wednesday’s Factors and Events

Blokland said investors need to be prepared for the fact that those corporate earnings may take a bit longer to perk up, testing their patience. For example, he noted Monday’s data showing the eurozone’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index hit a two-month low in December — a sign improved data may still be a couple of months away.

Tuesday Activity

Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,657.56 up with +0.46%  percent or +7.63  point; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 1,015.72  up with +0.77% percent or + 7.79 point; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 2,045.09 up with +0.33% percent or +6.63   point; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,425.14 up with +0.091% percent or +1.29 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,870.48 up with +0.062% percent or +1.17 point; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,763.06 up with +0.035% or +0.61 point.