In the latest market updates, the broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust ($SPY) experienced a slight rise of 0.02%, while the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust ($QQQ) was slightly higher by 0.04% during Wednesday's premarket activity. This positive movement in the market is attributed to growing investor confidence amidst significant earnings reports from major US banks. U.S.
stock futures also reflected this optimism, as the S&P 500 Index futures were up by 0.03%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advanced by 0.03%, and Nasdaq futures increased by 0.05% prior to the start of regular trading hours. However, it is important to note that mortgage applications have decreased significantly, falling by 17% in the week ending October 11.
This decline follows a 5.1% drop in overall activity recorded in the previous week ended October 4, indicating rising mortgage rates which have reached their highest level since August, as reported by data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. On the commodities front, U.S. import prices saw a decrease of 0.4% in September, alongside export prices which slipped by 0.7% during the same month. In the realm of cryptocurrency, bitcoin marked a gain of 3%, closely following the rise of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF ($BITO), which increased by 1.5% in premarket trading. Delving into sector performances, the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) increased by 0.3%.
On the other hand, the iShares US Technology ETF ($IYW) saw a minor gain of 0.2%, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF ($IGM.US) experienced a slight fall of 0.03%. Notably, among semiconductor ETFs, the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF ($XSD) rose by 2%, and the iShares Semiconductor ETF ($SOXX) gained 1.2%. A key highlight in the market is the remarkable surge of Versus Systems ($VS) shares, which skyrocketed 228% in Wednesday's premarket trading.
This impressive increase was prompted by the announcement of a $2.5 million funding and a technology licensing deal secured from Aspis Cyber Technologies. In the healthcare sector, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund ($XLV) saw a modest increase of 0.1%. Whereas, the Vanguard Health Care Index Fund ($VHT) remained flat and the iShares US Healthcare ETF ($IYH) was up by 0.3%.
The iShares Biotechnology ETF ($IBB) also advanced by 0.3%. NovoCure ($NVCR) stocks surged by 21% before the opening bell on Wednesday after it announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its Optune Lua device for treating adults diagnosed with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. Moving on to consumer stocks, the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund ($XLP) dipped slightly by 0.07%.
In contrast, the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund ($VDC) increased by 0.06%. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF ($IYK) remained unchanged, while the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund ($XLY) gained 0.1%. Notably, J.B. Hunt Transport Services ($JBHT) saw its stock rise by 6.7% following the announcement of better-than-expected Q3 earnings and operating revenue. In the energy sector, the iShares US Energy ETF ($IYE) faced a slight decrease of 0.06%, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ($XLE) gained by 0.4%.
Additionally, Iris Energy ($IREN) shares increased by 5.3% before the opening bell, following remarks that its AI Cloud Services division is projected to generate approximately $32 million in annual hardware profit by the end of December. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund ($XLI) experienced a 0.3% rise, with the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund ($VIS) remaining flat and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) noting an increase of 1.3%.
However, ASML Holding ($ASML) stock fell by 2.3% in the recent premarket activity, as the company announced an expectation for total net sales between 30 billion euros ($32.67 billion) and 35 billion euros for 2025, which falls within the lower half of the range provided during its 2022 Investor Day. In the financial sector, the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) advanced by 0.2%.
The Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares ($FAS.US) saw a gain of 0.4%, whereas its bearish counterpart, the Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares ($FAZ), was down by 0.4%. Citizens Financial Group ($CFG) shares decreased by 2.2% in pre-bell trading after reporting lower Q3 underlying earnings and total revenue compared to the previous year. Lastly, on the commodities market, front-month U.S.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil increased by 0.04%, reaching $70.61 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Conversely, natural gas dropped by 2.6%, settling at $2.432 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) declined by 0.4%, with the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) also down by 2.1%. On the precious metals front, gold futures for December rose by 0.7% to $2,698.80 an ounce, while silver futures increased by 1.1% to $32.09 an ounce.
SPDR Gold Shares ($GLD) advanced by 0.6%, and iShares Silver Trust ($SLV) gained 1.1%..