09:10 AM EDT, 04/02/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust ( SPY ) was down 1.6%, and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 2.1% lower in Thursday's premarket activity as renewed escalation signals in the Iran conflict drive oil prices higher.

US stock futures were also lower, with S&P 500 Index futures down 1.5%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipping 1.3%, and Nasdaq futures falling 1.9% before the start of regular trading.

US initial jobless claims fell to 202,000 in the week ended March 28 from a revised 211,000 level, defying expectations for an increase.

The US trade deficit widened to $57.35 billion in February from $54.68 billion in January as import growth outpaced exports.

Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said layoff intentions rose in March from February but were well below the level in March 2026 when federal government layoffs were a key factor.

Weekly natural gas stocks data will be released at 10:30 am ET, and the Atlanta Federal Reserve is expected to update its GDPnowcast estimate of Q1 GDP around midday.

Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman is slated to speak Thursday.

In premarket activity, bitcoin was down by 2.9%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 2.9% lower, Ether ETF (EETH) fell 5%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) retreated 0.4%.

Power Play:

Health Care

The State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLV ) retreated by 1%, the Vanguard Health Care Index Fund ( VHT ) was flat, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF ( IYH ) slipped 2.1%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was down 1%.

Celldex Therapeutics ( CLDX ) stock was down more than 7% premarket after the company said late Wednesday it priced an underwritten public offering of about 10.3 million shares at $29 apiece for gross proceeds of roughly $300 million.

Winners and Losers:

Financial

The State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) declined by 1.5%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was down 4.4%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 4.8% higher.

Apollo Global Management ( APO ) shares were down more than 3% pre-bell after Antin Infrastructure Partners said Apollo has sold Sapphire Gas Solutions to Antin.

Consumer

The State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) was down 0.2% and the Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund ETF Shares (VDC) was up 0.4% The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF ( IYK ) was inactive. The State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) lost 1.9%. The VanEck Retail ETF ( RTH ) retreated 0.7%, while the State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) was declined by 1.9%.

Tesla (TSLA) shares were down more than 2% pre-bell after closing Wednesday with a 2.6% gain. Bloomberg reported that CEO Elon Musk's SpaceX filed confidentially for an initial public offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Technology

The State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) retreated 2.5%, and the iShares US Technology ETF ( IYW ) was 2.3% lower, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF ( IGM ) was down 2.2%. Among semiconductor ETFs, the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF ( XSD ) declined by 3.4%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) fell by 3.8%.

Oracle (ORCL) shares were down more than 2% in Thursday's premarket activity after The Economic Times of India reported the company laid off about 10,000 employees in India as part of a global restructuring program.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF ( IYE ) was up 2.4%, while the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLE ) was up by 2.5%.

TotalEnergies (TTE) stock was up more than 2% before Thursday's opening bell after the company said it agreed to establish a $2.20 billion joint venture with United Arab Emirates-based energy company Masdar to combine their onshore renewable energy activities in nine countries across Asia.

Industrial

The State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLI ) retreated by 1.5%, while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund ( VIS ) was down 2.6%, and the iShares US Industrials ETF ( IYJ ) fell 1.5%.

ESAB ( ESAB ) stock was down more than 1% before the opening bell after the company appointed Brent Jones as its new chief financial officer, starting early May 2026.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose by 10% to $110.61 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas advanced by 0.9% to $2.85 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund ( USO ) was up by 10.3%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) was 1.1% higher.

Gold futures for May were down by 3.6% at $4,638.60 an ounce on the Comex. Silver futures retreated 6.9% to $70.77 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares ( GLD ) declined by 3%, and the iShares Silver Trust ( SLV ) was 6% lower.