In the latest premarket activities, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, commonly known as $SPY, experienced a notable increase of 1%, while the widely-traded Invesco QQQ Trust, referred to as $QQQ, rose by 1.6%. This uptick in ETF performances reflects trader optimism as they prepare for the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy announcement, expected to take place at the conclusion of its two-day meeting. Additionally, US stock futures demonstrated strength, with the S&P 500 Index futures advancing 1.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures increasing by 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures rallying by nearly 2% just before the opening of regular trading. On the housing market front, mortgage applications have seen a decline of 3.9% for the week ending July 26.
This comes after a previous decrease of 2.2%. Notably, refinancing applications fell by 7%, alongside a 2% reduction in new home applications. Meanwhile, the 30-year fixed mortgage rates stabilized at 6.82%, according to the latest report from the Mortgage Bankers Association released on Wednesday. At 8:15 am ET, the ADP's monthly report on private payrolls indicated an increase of only 122,000 jobs in July, falling short of the Bloomberg consensus estimate, which anticipated a rise of 150,000 jobs.
Furthermore, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released data showing that the quarterly employment cost index increased by 0.9% in Q2, which is below the 1.2% growth recorded in the previous quarter, and also lower than the estimated 1% increase from a Bloomberg survey. The Chicago purchasing managers' index for July will be released at 9:45 am ET, followed by the pending home sales index bulletin at 10 am ET.
Later, at 10:30 am ET, the weekly EIA petroleum status report will be posted. The FOMC meeting is set to conclude at 2 pm ET, where Chairman Jerome Powell will address the gathered participants at 2:30 pm ET to summarize the policy-setting discussions. In the cryptocurrency market, bitcoin saw a slight decline of 0.6%, whereas the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF ($BITO) managed to achieve a modest increase of 0.4%. Focusing on industrial sectors, the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund ($XLI) showed an upward trend, advancing by 0.9%.
In contrast, the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund ($VIS) and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) remained inactive during this trading period. On a notable winning note, Powell Industries ($POWL) shares surged over 25% pre-market following a report of increased fiscal Q3 earnings and revenue. In the technology sector, the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) experienced a 1.9% gain, while the iShares US Technology ETF ($IYW) saw a 1.3% increase.
Notably, the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF ($IGM.US) remained inactive. In the semiconductor space, the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF ($XSD) rose by 2.1%, whereas the iShares Semiconductor ETF ($SOXX) increased by 3.8%. ASML ($ASML) shares gained 7% in premarket trading following media reports indicating that the company is likely to be excluded from new trade restrictions aimed at China. Turning to the financial sector, the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) saw an uptick of 0.6%, with Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares ($FAS.US) rising by 1.6%.
Conversely, its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares ($FAZ), fell by the same percentage. Mizuho Financial Group ($MFG) stock reported nearly a 7% increase pre-bell after publishing higher Q1 financial results. Examining consumer goods, the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund ($XLP) increased by 0.3%, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund ($VDC) remained flat.
The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF ($IYK) saw no activity, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund ($XLY) grew by 0.7%. Both the VanEck Retail ETF ($RTH) and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF ($XRT) showed movement, with the latter increasing by nearly 1%. However, Marriott International ($MAR) reported a decline of 4.3% pre-bell following their Q2 financial report. Regarding the energy sector, while the iShares US Energy ETF ($IYE) remained inactive, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ($XLE) recorded a positive gain of 1.2%.
However, Comstock Resources ($CRK) shares fell more than 2% ahead of Wednesday’s market opening in light of a reported Q2 adjusted net loss and declining revenue. Within the healthcare sector, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund ($XLV) saw minimal change at 0.01%. In contrasting activity, the Vanguard Health Care Index Fund ($VHT) declined by 1.2%, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF ($IYH) and iShares Biotechnology ETF ($IBB) remained inactive.
GSK ($GSK) shares fell by 2.4% in premarket despite a report of increased Q2 financial results and an upward revision of their 2024 guidance. In commodities, front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 3.2%, reaching $77.14 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while natural gas saw a decrease of 2.6%, priced at $2.070 per million British thermal units.
The United States Oil Fund (USO) gained nearly 3%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) experienced a decline of nearly 2%. Gold futures are up by 0.6%, now priced at $2,466 an ounce on the Comex, and silver futures rose by 1.1%, settling at $28.85 an ounce. Additionally, SPDR Gold Shares ($GLD) gained 0.6%, and iShares Silver Trust ($SLV) saw an increase of 1.3%..