08:48 AM EST, 01/09/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust ( SPY ) was up 0.4% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 0.5% higher in Friday's premarket activity amid the release of the December employment report.

US stock futures were also higher, with S&P 500 Index futures up 0.1%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advancing 0.03%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.2% before the start of regular trading.

The December employment report showed nonfarm payrolls rose by 50,000, below the 70,000-jobs increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg, while November payrolls were revised down to a 56,000 increase and October payrolls were revised down to a 173,000 decrease, for a net downward revision of 76,000.

October housing starts fell by 4.6% from the previous month to a 1.246 million annual rate, below expectations compiled by Bloomberg for a 1.33 million rate after an increase to a 1.306 million pace in September.

The preliminary University of Michigan consumer sentiment report for January posts at 10 am.

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari is slated to speak at 10 am, while Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin speaks at 1:35 pm.

In premarket activity, bitcoin was down by 0.6%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 0.6% lower, Ether ETF (EETH) declined by 0.8%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) retreated by 1.5%.

Power Play:

Technology

The State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) advanced 0.2%, and the iShares US Technology ETF ( IYW ) was 0.3% higher, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF ( IGM ) was inactive. Among semiconductor ETFs, the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF ( XSD ) was up 0.4%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rose by 0.9%.

ChipMOS Technologies ( IMOS ) shares were up more than 9% in recent premarket activity after the company reported higher unaudited Q4 revenue.

Winners and Losers:

Consumer

The State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) was up 0.1%, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund ETF Shares (VDC) was flat. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF ( IYK ) was flat. The State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) gained 0.2%. The VanEck Retail ETF ( RTH ) was inactive, while the State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) was down 0.2%.

WD-40 ( WDFC ) shares were down more than 7% pre-bell after the company reported lower than expected fiscal Q1 earnings and revenue late Thursday.

Health Care

The State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLV ) advanced 0.02%, the Vanguard Health Care Index Fund ( VHT ) was up 0.1%, and the iShares US Healthcare ETF ( IYH ) gained 0.03%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) rose 0.4%.

Liquidia ( LQDA ) stock was up more than 4% premarket after the company reported preliminary Q4 net sales of Yutrepia of about $90.1 million, bringing the full-year 2025 net sales to $148.3 million.

Industrial

The State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLI ) advanced 0.2%, the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund ( VIS ) gained 0.4%, while the iShares US Industrials ETF ( IYJ ) was inactive.

Fluor (FLR) stock was up more than 4% before the opening bell after the company said late Thursday it achieved mechanical completion on BASF's Zhanjiang Verbund chemicals project in China.

Financial

The State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLF ) advanced 0.04%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares ( FAS ) was down 0.1%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares ( FAZ ) was 0.1% lower.

MetLife ( MET ) shares were down more than 1% pre-bell after gaining 1.9% at the prior close. UBS and Barclays cut their price targets for the company on Thursday.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF ( IYE ) was inactive, while the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLE ) was up by 0.4%.

Chevron ( CVX ) stock was up more than 1% before Friday's opening bell after Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing its vessel movement tracking data, that the company loaded 1.68 million barrels of Venezuelan oil onto tankers in the first week of January, the most for that period since May and nearly five times more than the same period in December.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.8% at $58.23 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas declined 0.1% to $3.41 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund ( USO ) declined by 0.6%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) was 0.6% lower.

Gold futures for February advanced by 0.3% to $4,473.60 an ounce on the Comex, and silver futures rose by 3% to $77.37 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares ( GLD ) was down by 0.2%, and the iShares Silver Trust ( SLV ) was 0.5% higher.