The U.S. Dollar Index is trading at 96.49  with a loss of -0.02% percent or  -0.01 point. The Dow Futures is trading at 26,002.00 up with +0.15% percent or +38.00 point. The S&P 500 Futures is trading at 2,790.38  up with +0.12% percent or +3.38 point.  The Nasdaq Futures is trading at 7,092.50 up with +0.27% percent or +19.25 point.

TODAY’S FACTORS AND EVENTS

The euro held below a two-week high on Thursday as investors waited for survey data to get a clearer idea on the outlook for the euro zone economy, while the Australian dollar fell after a Chinese port banned imports of the country’s coal.

France and Germany report February Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data shortly, followed by the euro zone flash PMI data at 0900 GMT.

A bunch of weak data since January has undermined support for the single currency, prompted investors to revise down their inflation expectations in the coming months and pulled core bond yields lower.

PREVIOUS DAY ACTIVITY

For the day the Dow is trading at 25,954.44 up with +0.24% percent or +63.12 point. The S&P 500 is trading at 2,784.70 up with  +0.18% percent or +4.94 point. The Nasdaq Composite is trading at 7,489.07 up with +0.031% percent or +2.30 point.

WORLD MARKETS

Other leading market index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000 Index closed at 1,581.66 up with +0.46% percent or +7.19 point; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index closed at 987.87 up with +0.71% percent or +7.01  point; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index closed at 1,925.12  up with +0.46% percent or +8.85 point; the S&P 100 Index closed at 1,221.74  up with +0.15% percent or +1.82 point; the Russell 3000 Index closed at 1,649.11  up with +0.18% percent or ++3.00 point; the Russell 1000 Index closed at 1,545.14 up with +0.16% percent or +2.48 point.