The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, commonly known by its ticker symbol $SPY, saw an increase of 0.2% in premarket trading, while Invesco QQQ Trust, represented by $QQQ, was up by 0.3%. Investors are closely monitoring these movements as the US central bank prepares for its annual economic summit in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, later today. Futures for US stocks reflected a positive sentiment, with S&P 500 Index futures climbing by 0.2%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures also experienced a slight advancement of 0.1%, while Nasdaq futures gained 0.3% ahead of the regular trading session. Market watchers will be attentive to key economic indicators slated for release at 8:30 AM ET, including the weekly jobless claims report and the Chicago Fed National Activity Index for July. At 9:45 AM ET, the S&P Global US flash for August PMI covering both composite, manufacturing, and service sectors will be published, followed by the existing home sales report at 10 AM ET.
The weekly EIA natural gas bulletin is set to be released at 10:30 AM ET, and later, the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index for August is scheduled for 11 AM ET. In the realm of cryptocurrency, bitcoin witnessed a 0.5% decline, with ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF ($BITO) mirroring this trend with a decrease of 0.5%.
Shifting focus to the Health Care sector, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund, denoted as $XLV, made a gain of 0.3%. Meanwhile, other notable funds in the sector—including the Vanguard Health Care Index Fund ($VHT), iShares US Healthcare ETF ($IYH), and iShares Biotechnology ETF ($IBB)—were inactive during this time. On the other hand, shares of Cyclo Therapeutics ($CYTH) plummeted by 23% in premarket trading, while Rafael Holdings ($RFL) saw a slight slip of 0.7% following an agreement to merge with Cyclo. Examining the Consumer sector, the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund ($XLP) experienced a modest increase of 0.1%.
In contrast, the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund ($VDC), and the iShares US Consumer Staples ETF ($IYK) remained flat, whereas the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund ($XLY) gained 0.3%. Both VanEck Retail ETF ($RTH) and SPDR S&P Retail ETF ($XRT) showed no trading activity. Advance Auto Parts ($AAP) shares faced a downturn of 12% in pre-bell trading after the company reported disappointing fiscal Q2 earnings and net sales results.
Moreover, Advance Auto Parts announced its decision to sell Worldpac, its automotive parts wholesale distribution business, to funds managed by Carlyle Group ($CG) for $1.5 billion in cash. Moving to the Financial sector, the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) registered a slight rise of 0.1%.
In contrast, Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares ($FAS.US) saw a decline of 0.1%, whereas its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares ($FAZ), advanced by 0.1%. Aegon ($AGN) witnessed a drop in its stock price by 7% in pre-bell trading on Thursday after disclosing lower operating results for the first half of the year. In the Industrial sector, the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund ($XLI) moved upward by 0.1%, while both Vanguard Industrials Index Fund ($VIS) and iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) remained inactive. EHang ($EH) reported a positive shift in its financial performance, showing a 4% gain in premarket trading after achieving adjusted net income in Q2 alongside a nearly 920% spike in revenue. Technology stocks remained in the spotlight, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) rising by 0.4%.
The iShares US Technology ETF ($IYW) experienced an increase of 0.3%, while iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF ($IGM.US) remained inactive. Among semiconductor ETFs, the SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF ($XSD) also showed no activity; however, the iShares Semiconductor ETF ($SOXX) gained 0.4%. Bilibili ($BILI) shares were up by 2.6% in Thursday's premarket trading session after the company reported a narrowed adjusted loss for Q2 alongside higher revenue figures. In the Energy sector, the iShares US Energy ETF ($IYE) remained inactive, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ($XLE) registered an uptick of 0.1%.
California Resources ($CRC) stock held steady before the Thursday market open, following their announcement of receiving $488.5 million in tenders for repurchasing part of its senior notes due in 2026. In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for the front month increased by 0.4%, reaching $72.25 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Natural gas prices dipped by 1.3% to $2.15 per million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) advanced by 0.5%, in contrast to the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG), which declined by 1.7%. In precious metals, gold futures for December slipped by 0.4% to $2,537.80 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures showed a minor drop of 0.04% at $29.96 an ounce.
SPDR Gold Shares ($GLD) fell by 0.5%, and iShares Silver Trust ($SLV) decreased by 0.04%..