08:29 AM EDT, 09/26/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust ( SPY ) was up 0.8% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 1.5% higher in Thursday's premarket activity, fueled by a rally in tech stocks.

US stock futures were also higher, with S&P 500 Index futures up 0.8%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gaining 0.4%, and Nasdaq futures advancing 1.5% before the start of regular trading.

The August durable goods orders, the Q2 revised GDP bulletin, the Q2 corporate profits release, and the weekly jobless claims report are all due at 8:30 am ET.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will deliver pre-recorded remarks to the US Treasury Market conference at 9:20 am ET.

The August pending home sales index will be released at 10 am ET, followed by the weekly EIA natural gas report at 10:30 am ET. The Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index for September posts at 11 am ET.

Federal Reserve Boston President Susan Collins speaks at 9:10 am ET, Governor Michelle Bowman at 9:15 am ET, New York Fed President John Williams at 9:25 am ET, Vice Chair Michael Barr and Governor Lisa Cook both at 10:30 am ET, and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari at 1 pm ET.

In premarket activity, bitcoin was up by 1.9% and the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF ( BITO ) was 1.9% higher.

Power Play:

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLP ) edged up 0.01%, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) was down 0.2%. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF ( IYK ) was inactive, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLY ) gained 1%. The VanEck Retail ETF ( RTH ) was inactive, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF ( XRT ) was up 0.8%.

CarMax ( KMX ) shares were down more than 6% pre-bell after the company reported lower fiscal Q2 revenue.

Winners and Losers:

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLF ) advanced 0.3%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares ( FAS ) was up 1%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares ( FAZ ) was 1% lower.

Amerant Bancorp ( AMTB ) stock was down nearly 7.4% pre-bell Thursday after the company said Wednesday that it launched an underwritten public offering of its Class A voting common shares.

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLV ) advanced 0.2%. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund ( VHT ) was up 0.2% while the iShares US Healthcare ETF ( IYH ) was inactive. The iShares Biotechnology ETF ( IBB ) gained 0.9%.

Evotec (EVO) stock was up 5% premarket after the company said it is partnering with Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) to develop off-the-shelf cell therapies for possible commercialization.

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLI ) advanced 0.4% while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund ( VIS ) was inactive. The iShares US Industrials ETF ( IYJ ) was 0.5% higher.

Aramark ( ARMK ) shares were 5% higher before the opening bell after Bloomberg News reported Wednesday, citing unnamed sources, that French food caterer Sodexo is mulling a potential acquisition of the food and facilities services provider.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLK ) rose 1.8%, and the iShares US Technology ETF ( IYW ) was 1.5% higher, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF ( IGM ) was up 0.9%. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF ( XSD ) gained 2%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF ( SOXX ) rose by 3.4%.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares were up 2.4% in recent Thursday premarket activity after a report from Bain & Co. forecast that AI-related hardware and software could reach up to $990 billion by 2027.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF ( IYE ) was down 0.7%, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLE ) fell by 1.6%.

Valero Energy ( VLO ) stock was down 1.3% before Thursday's opening bell after Darling Ingredients ( DAR ) said late Wednesday its 50/50 joint venture will supply Florida with sustainable aviation fuel, which includes 18 million gallons of fuel from a Valero unit.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell by 2.8% to $67.74 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas was up 1.7% at $2.68 per 1 million British Thermal Units. United States Oil Fund ( USO ) lost 3.2%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) gained 1.3%.

Gold futures for December were up 0.8% at $2,706.20 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures rose 2.9% to $32.94 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares ( GLD ) advanced 0.9%, and iShares Silver Trust ( SLV ) was 2.3% higher.