In the latest trading session, the broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust noted an increase of 0.1%, while the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust also saw a slight rise of 0.01% in premarket activity. This comes as traders are particularly interested in Nvidia's plans regarding new artificial intelligence products, reflecting an ongoing trend where technology companies are pivotal in market movements. Futures for U.S.
stocks indicated a positive tone, with S&P 500 Index futures rising 0.2%, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures up by the same margin, while Nasdaq futures increased by 0.1% ahead of the regular trading opening. Market watchers are eagerly awaiting the release of the international trade in goods and services bulletin scheduled for 8:30 am ET, followed by the ISM Services Index final data set for December at 10 am ET. In the realm of cryptocurrencies, bitcoin dropped by 1.4%, and the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF experienced a decline of 1.3%, marking a cautious sentiment in the crypto market during premarket activity. In the health care sector, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund retreated slightly, recording a marginal decline of 0.01%.
Notably, other significant funds such as the Vanguard Health Care Index Fund, iShares US Healthcare ETF, and iShares Biotechnology ETF remained inactive during this session. A noteworthy development occurred with Inari Medical, where the company's stock surged over 21% in premarket activity after Stryker announced on late Monday its agreement to acquire Inari for an estimated fully diluted equity value of approximately $4.90 billion.
Despite this financial cheer, Stryker’s shares faced a downturn of 1.8% in the pre-bell period. Turning to technology, the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund rose 0.1%, with the iShares US Technology ETF similarly increasing by 0.1%. However, the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF held steady without any change.
Among the semiconductor-focused ETFs, the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF gained 0.1%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF saw a slightly greater uptick of 0.7%. In this sphere, Nvidia shares saw a notable premarket activity rise of 2.5% following a keynote from CEO Jensen Huang, who outlined new artificial intelligence initiatives including partnerships and products such as an AI superchip and the new GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs, which utilize the Blackwell architecture. The consumer sector likewise presented mixed outcomes, with the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund inching up by 0.1% and the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund climbing 1.3%.
Meanwhile, the iShares US Consumer Staples ETF remained inactive, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund slipped by 0.3%. The VanEck Retail ETF did not see any trades, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF experienced no changes as well. In a significant update, Toyota Motor’s shares rose by 2% in pre-bell trading, following news from Japanese startup Interstellar Technologies regarding an investment of about 7 billion yen ($44.4 million) from Toyota’s research unit, Woven, aimed at bolstering the mass production of Interstellar’s rockets. In the industrial sector, the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund remained flat, with the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund and the iShares US Industrials ETF reflecting inactivity. GFL Environmental stock saw a pre-bell increase of 2% after announcing a strategic agreement with funds managed by Apollo Global Management and BC Partners, to divest its environmental services operations for a substantial enterprise value of around $5.59 billion. The financial sector exhibited a slight increase as the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund advanced by 0.2%.
The Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares increased by 0.5%, whereas its bearish counterpart experienced a minor decrease of 0.3%. A setback was noted for F&G Annuities & Life, with shares declining by 1.3% in pre-bell trading after a previous session fall of 2.1%. The company disclosed on Monday the pricing of a $375 million public offering of 7.3% junior subordinated notes due in 2065. Within the energy sector, the iShares US Energy ETF remained idle, whereas the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund recorded a gain of 0.6%.
Exxon Mobil saw a pre-bell rise of 0.7%, which reversed the previous session's slight loss. Recent reports indicated that Exxon filed a lawsuit against California Attorney General Robert Bonta and several environmental groups, alleging defamation related to the company's plastics recycling initiatives. Finally, in commodities, front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil increased by 0.7%, settling at $74.08 per barrel, while natural gas dropped 1.8% to $3.61 per 1 million British Thermal Units.
The United States Oil Fund rose by 0.8%, in contrast to the United States Natural Gas Fund, which fell by 2.3%. Gold futures for February saw a 0.5% increase, reaching $2,661.60 an ounce, and silver futures climbed 0.9% to settle at $30.86 an ounce. The SPDR Gold Shares advanced 0.6%, while the iShares Silver Trust rose by 1.2%..