The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.3%, and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) advanced 0.9% in Thursday's premarket activity, as investors returned to chip stocks while monitoring escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran.
US stock futures were mixed, with S&P 500 Index futures up 0.2%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipping 0.1%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.6% before the start of regular trading.
US initial jobless claims fell to a level of 215,000 in the week ended July 4 from an upwardly revised 217,000 level in the previous week, compared with expectations for a level of 217,000 in a survey of analysts compiled by Bloomberg.
The existing home sales data will be released at 10:00 am ET, followed by natural gas stocks data at 10:30 am ET.
New York Federal Reserve President John Williams and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan are slated to speak on Thursday.
In premarket action, bitcoin was up by 0.8%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 0.8% higher, Ether ETF (EETH) advanced 0.1%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) was flat.
Power Play:
Industrial
The State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI) advanced 0.4%, while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) was up 0.3% and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) was flat.
FuelCell Energy (FCEL) stock was up more than x% before the opening bell after the company and Siemens agreed to collaborate on fuel cell-based power generation.
Winners and Losers:
Health Care
The State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) retreated by 0.3%, the Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) was 0.9% higher, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) gained by 0.2%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was up 0.8%.
AstraZeneca (AZN) stock was down more than 8% premarket, and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) fell over 20% after the partners said a phase 3 trial for eplontersen in patients with transthyretin-mediated amyloid cardiomyopathy, or ATTR-CM, failed to meet the primary efficacy endpoint.
Technology
The State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) advanced 1.8%, the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 1.4% higher, and the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was up 1.5%. Among semiconductor ETFs, the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) increased by 3.9%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rose 4.9%.
Applied Materials (AMAT) shares were up more than 4% in premarket activity after Nikkei Asia reported, citing CEO Gary Dickerson, that the company is seeing stronger long-term visibility into semiconductor equipment demand as major chipmakers share production plans extending well beyond 2027.
Consumer
The State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) was down 0.4%, the Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund ETF Shares (VDC) retreated by 1.1%, and the iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was inactive. The State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) lost 0.3%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was inactive, while the State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) was 0.3% lower.
Levi Strauss (LEVI) shares were down nearly 4% early Thursday after the company's new full-year earnings outlook fell short of analyst estimates even as its fiscal Q2 results topped views.
Financial
The State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) advanced 0.1%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 0.3%, while its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), was 0.4% lower.
Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) shares traded up 1% in early hours activity after the company said that Centralised Raiffeisen International Services & Payments, the shared services center of Raiffeisen Bank International, has upgraded to its cloud-based BRx Match reconciliation platform.
Energy
The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) gained 1.3%, while the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) was down by 0.3%.
Sempra (SRE) stock was down more than 1% before market open. The company said Wednesday that its Sempra Infrastructure unit shipped the first liquefied natural gas cargo from the ECA LNG Phase 1 project in Mexico, marking a milestone ahead of the facility's expected commercial operations later this summer.
Commodities
Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil advanced by 0.4% to $73.82 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas was down by 0.8% to $3.19 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) retreated by 0.4%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 0.8% lower.
Gold futures for July rose 1% to $4,122.20 an ounce on the Comex. Silver futures advanced by 1.9% to $59.67 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) increased 0.8%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was 1.8% higher.
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