The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was down 0.3% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) lost 0.4% in Wednesday's premarket activity, ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee's meeting minutes due later in the day.
US stock futures were also lower, with S&P 500 Index futures down 0.4%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipping 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures losing 0.5% before the start of regular trading.
The ADP December employment report will be released at 8:15 am ET, followed by the weekly jobless claims bulletin at 8:30 am ET.
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller speaks at 8:30 am ET.
The November wholesale inventories report will be released at 10 am, followed by the weekly EIA petroleum status report at 10:30 am ET.
The minutes from the Dec. 17 to Dec. 18 Federal Reserve policy meeting will be released at 2 pm ET.
In premarket action, bitcoin was down by 1.4% and the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 1.2% lower.
Power Play:
Industrial
Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) declined 0.5% while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) was down 0.4% and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) was flat.
XTI Aerospace (XTIA) stock was down more than 48% before the opening bell after the company said Tuesday it priced an offering of about 363.6 million shares at $0.055 apiece, targeting gross proceeds of about $20 million.
Winners and Losers:
Consumer
The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was flat, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) was up 1.8%. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was inactive, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) lost 0.6%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) were inactive.
Helen of Troy (HELE) shares were down more than 5% pre-bell after the company reported lower fiscal Q3 adjusted earnings and revenue.
Energy
The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was inactive, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was down by 0.1%.
Shell (SHEL) stock was down more than 3% before Wednesday's opening bell after the company said it expects weaker Q4 oil and gas trading results compared with the prior quarter due to lower liquefied natural gas, or LNG, production and lower trading performance.
Financial
Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) slipped 0.2%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was down 0.8%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 0.8% higher.
Hut 8 (HUT) shares were down 3.1% pre-bell Wednesday after the company reported Tuesday that it mined 89 bitcoins in December, a 5% decrease from the previous month's 94 BTC.
Health Care
The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) retreated 0.01%. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) was down 0.1% while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) gained 1.4%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was down 0.4%.
Boston Scientific (BSX) stock was up more than 2% premarket after the company said it has agreed to acquire the shares of Bolt Medical that it does not already own for $443 million in addition to milestone payments.
Technology
Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) retreated 0.3%, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 0.4% lower, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was down 0.6%. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) retreated 0.9%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) fell by 0.9%.
Ansys (ANSS) shares were up more than 1% in recent Wednesday premarket activity after the UK's Competition and Markets Authority said that it may accept undertakings by Ansys and Synopsys (SNPS) for the latter's proposed $35 billion takeover of Ansys.
Commodities
Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil gained 0.8% at $74.82 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas rose 4.6% to $3.61 per 1 million British Thermal Units. United States Oil Fund (USO) was up 0.2%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) advanced 4.3%.
Gold futures for February were marginally lower by 0.03% at $2,664.50 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures advanced 0.1% to $30.71 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) slipped 0.03%, while the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was 0.2% higher.
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