09:19 AM EDT, 05/03/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 1.1% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 1.6% higher in Friday's premarket activity as major companies including Apple ( AAPL ) continued to report higher earnings.

US stock futures were also higher, with S&P 500 Index futures up 1.1%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advancing 1.5%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 1.2% before the start of regular trading.

Stocks also gained as a weaker-than-expected April employment report sent US Treasury yields lower.

The S&P Global composite final PMI for April will be released at 9:45 am ET, followed by the ISM Services Index for April at 10 am ET and the weekly Baker Hughes domestic oil-and-gas rig count at 1 pm ET.

New York Fed President John Williams and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee will participate in a panel discussion titled "Getting Monetary Policy Back on Track" at the Hoover Institution at 7:45 pm ET.

In premarket action, bitcoin was down by 0.3% and the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 2.4% higher.

Power Play:

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) was up 2.4%, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 0.8% higher, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was down 2.1%. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) gained 2.1%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rose by 0.6%.

Sprout Social ( SPT ) shares were down more than 30% pre-bell Friday, after BTIG downgraded its stock to neutral from buy, while William Blair downgraded it to market perform from outperform and Baird downgraded the company's stock to neutral from outperform.

Winners and Losers:

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) was 0.6% higher and the Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) was flat, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) was inactive. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was 0.9% higher.

Amgen ( AMGN ) stock rose over 13% before the bell Friday, a day after it posted higher Q1 revenue from a year earlier.

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP), the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) and the iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) were flat. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) advanced 0.1%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) were inactive.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) was up 0.8. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was 2.3% higher, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was down 2.3%.

Block (SQ) shares were up nearly 10% pre-bell Friday, a day after the financial services firm posted higher Q1 adjusted net income and net revenue from a year earlier.

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) advanced 0.8% and the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) was 0.9% higher, while the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) was inactive.

AAON ( AAON ) shares fell 5.5% before Friday's opening bell after the company late Thursday posted lower Q1 net sales from a year earlier.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was 1.3% lower, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was up by 0.2%.

Coterra Energy ( CTRA ) stock climbed nearly 3% pre-bell Friday, a day after it posted better-than-expected Q1 adjusted net income and revenue.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil advanced 0.5% to $79.33 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas rose 0.6% to $2.05 per 1 million British Thermal Units. United States Oil Fund (USO) was 0.7% higher, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) gained 0.3%.

Gold futures for June edged down 0.2% to $2,304.70 an ounce on the Comex, and silver futures lost 0.8% to $26.62 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) advanced 0.6%, and iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was 0.5% higher.