Exchange-Traded Funds, Equity Futures Higher Pre-Bell Thursday Amid Renewed Rate Cut

The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.4% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 0.5% higher in Thursday’s premarket activity amid renewed expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts following recent economic reports and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks.

US stock futures were also higher, with S&P 500 Index futures up 0.3%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advancing 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.4% before the start of regular trading.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported Thursday that companies in the US planned to cut 90,309 jobs in March, the highest level since January 2023, with layoffs mostly in the government and technology sectors due to cost-cutting measures.

The February international trade in goods and services report and the weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 am ET, followed by the weekly EIA natural gas supplies report at 10:30 am ET.

Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin is due to speak at 12:15 pm ET, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee at 12:45 pm ET, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari at 2 pm ET, St. Louis President Alberto Musalem at 5 pm ET, and Fed Governor Adriana Kugler at 7:30 pm ET.

In premarket action, bitcoin was up by 1.1% and the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 1.6% higher.

Power Play:

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) advanced 0.4%, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) was flat. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was up 2.1%, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) gained 0.5%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) were inactive.

Levi Strauss LEVI shares traded up more than 12% pre-bell Thursday after the denim jeans manufacturer reported late Wednesday fiscal Q1 adjusted earnings and sales that beat market expectations.

Winners and Losers:

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) advanced 0.2%. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) and the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) were inactive. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was recently up 0.4%.

MacroGenics MGNX shares were up nearly 10% premarket after the company said late Wednesday that interim safety data from the phase 2 trial of vobra duo in people with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer is set for end-May release after a company abstract wasn’t accepted by the American Society of Clinical Oncology for presentation at a meeting starting May 31.

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) advanced 0.2%, the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) added 1.5% and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) was 0.3% higher.

Intuitive Machines LUNR shares were up more than 7% before the opening bell after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration late Wednesday awarded the company $30 million to complete a lunar terrain vehicle services feasibility assessment as a prime contractor.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) was up 0.4%, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 0.3% higher, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was up 1.3%. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) advanced 0.1%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rose by 0.7%.

BlackBerry’s BB shares were up 5.7% in premarket activity Thursday after the technology firm swung back into the black in fiscal Q4, counter to analysts’ expectations of wider non-GAAP losses.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) gained 0.4%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 1.2%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 0.8% lower.

Upstart Holdings UPST shares were down 1.2% pre-bell Thursday after a late Wednesday US Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed that the company’s Chief Technology Officer Paul Gu sold 60,000 shares.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was 0.1% higher, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was up by nearly 0.1%.

EnCore Energy EU shares were up 2.3% before Thursday’s opening bell after the company said that it had issued 495,765 common shares between January 1 and March 31 under its at-the-market program, raising about $2 million in gross proceeds, and subsequently suspended the program with around $18.7 million in shares still available for sale

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 0.3% at $85.22 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas retreated 0.4% to $1.83 per 1 million British Thermal Units. United States Oil Fund (USO) lost 0.4%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 0.7% lower.

Gold futures for June were down 0.1% at $2,312.10 an ounce on the Comex, and silver futures were up 0.3% to $27.13 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) lost 0.2%, and iShares Silver Trust (SLV) retreated 0.3%.