In the latest premarket activity, the prominent broad market exchange-traded fund, SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, identified by the ticker $SPY, rose by 0.4%. The highly traded Invesco QQQ Trust, represented as $QQQ, experienced a more substantial increase of 0.7%. These movements precede a week packed with earnings reports from key tech corporations.
US stock futures mirrored these positive trends, with S&P 500 Index futures climbing by 0.5%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures showed a 0.4% increase, and Nasdaq futures gained an impressive 0.7% prior to the commencement of regular trading. Additionally, all eyes will be on the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey set to be released at 10:30 am ET, adding another layer of anticipation to the trading day. In the realm of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin experienced a notable uptick of 2.5%, reflecting a growing interest, while the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, designated by $BITO, climbed by 2.2% as well.
Examining sector movements, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund, indicated as $XLV, remained comparatively flat, yet the Vanguard Health Care Index Fund, known as $VHT, saw an uptick of 1.7%. The iShares US Healthcare ETF, ${IYH}, and the iShares Biotechnology ETF, referred to as $IBB, also made modest gains of 0.6% and 0.5% respectively. A standout performer in the premarket session was Philips (PHG), which saw its shares surge by 10% following the announcement of higher adjusted earnings for Q2 alongside a reaffirmation of its guidance for 2024. In the energy sector, the iShares US Energy ETF, denoted as $IYE, remained inactive, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund, acknowledged as $XLE, ticked up by 0.5%.
Oil States International, represented by ticker $OIS, experienced an impressive 5.5% gain following their disclosure of enhanced Q2 financial results. The industrial sector also saw positive movements. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund $XLI advanced 0.6%, the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund, symbol $VIS, climbed 1%, while the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) held steady without fluctuations. In terms of technological advancements, Ehang's stock, referenced by $EH, increased by 4.1% after the announcement of successful deliveries of their EH216-S eVTOL aircraft to Xishan Tourism and the completion of their first passenger-carrying flights in Taiyuan. Consumer sectors reported mixed performance, with the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund, termed as $XLP, gaining 0.5%.
Conversely, the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund $VDC edged up by just 0.1%, while the iShares US Consumer Staples ETF, $IYK, remained unchanged. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund, tag $XLY, reflected a small 0.2% gain, while the VanEck Retail ETF, $RTH, saw no changes, and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF, symbolized as $XRT, dropped by 1.1%.
Interestingly, shares of Alibaba Group Holding ($BABA) rose by 2.8% in pre-market activity, fueled by insights from Bloomberg News suggesting a shift in company policy aimed at boosting service fees from merchants. In the financial sector, the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund, $XLF, witnessed a modest increase of 0.4%.
Furthermore, Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares, marked as $FAS.US, advanced by 1.1%, in contrast to its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares, known as $FAZ, which registered a decline of nearly 1%. The Affiliated Managers Group, represented by $AMG.US, experienced a downturn of 2.8% in pre-bell trading after publishing lower-than-forecasted Q2 revenue figures, falling short of analysts’ expectations. Moreover, the technology sector exhibited robust growth, as the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund, acknowledged as $XLK, moved up by 0.7%, while the iShares US Technology ETF, symbolized by $IYW, increased by 1%.
The iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF, marked as $IGM.US, notably surged by 5.7%. In the semiconductor domain, the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF, $XSD, saw a 0.4% increase while the iShares Semiconductor ETF, $SOXX, gained 1.6%. Additionally, Palantir Technologies ($PLTR) saw a premarket rise of 1.4% following news of its partnership with Tree Energy Solutions for the production of electric natural gas sourced from green hydrogen, further supporting its initiatives focused on green energy and decarbonization. On the commodities front, the front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil saw a slight decline of 0.4%, adjusting to $76.87 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Natural gas edged down by 0.1%, holding at $2.049 for each million British Thermal Units. Meanwhile, the United States Oil Fund (USO) and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) floated to marginal increases of 0.1% and 0.8%, respectively. Gold futures, scheduled for December delivery, incremented by 0.2%, reaching $2,386 per ounce on the Comex, whereas silver futures advanced 0.4% to command $28.16 per ounce.
The SPDR Gold Shares, recognized as $GLD, gained 0.2%, while the iShares Silver Trust, marked as $SLV, progressed by 0.3%. In summary, the market reflects resilience and activity ahead of the anticipated earnings reports, with notable movements in various sectors indicative of investor sentiment and confidence in the face of changing financial landscapes..