08:29 AM EST, 03/07/2024 (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 0.6% higher in Thursday's premarket activity, as traders expect the Federal Reserve's Jerome Powell to echo the previous day's comments in his second testimony later in the day.

US stock futures were higher, with S&P 500 Index futures up 0.2%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advancing 0.4%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.6% before the start of regular trading.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported Thursday that job cut intentions in the US slightly increased in February, with companies planning to eliminate 84,638 positions, up from 82,307 in January and surpassing the figure from a year ago.

The January international trade in goods and services report, the weekly jobless claims bulletin, and the Q4 productivity and costs report will be released at 8:30 am ET.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will appear before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs at 10 am ET. The weekly EIA domestic natural gas supplies bulletin posts at 10:30 am ET. Loretta Mester, Cleveland Fed President, is slated to speak at 11:30 am ET.

In premarket action, bitcoin was down by 0.1% and the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 0.2% lower.

Power Play:

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was up by 0.2%, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) was down 0.1%. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was 2.6%, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) slipped by 0.2%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was inactive, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) retreated 0.4%.

Brera Holdings ( BREA ) traded up 123% pre-bell after the company said late Wednesday that Executive Chairman Daniel J. McClory has acquired a majority stake in the company.

Winners and Losers:

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) advanced 0.8%, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was flat, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was up 2.6%. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) was 1% higher, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rose by 1.3%.

Lytus Technologies Holdings (LYT) was up more than 214% in recent Thursday premarket activity after the company said late Wednesday it launched a suite of cloud infrastructure services to meet the increasing demands of enterprise computing.

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) gained 0.2%. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) was flat while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) was inactive. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was up 0.1%.

Avid Bioservices ( CDMO ) was down 34% premarket after the company said late Wednesday it priced a private placement to eligible purchasers of $160 million principal amount of 7% convertible senior notes due 2029.

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) advanced 0.3% and the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) was flat, while the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) was inactive.

Chemours ( CC ) gained 17% before the opening bell after the company said late Wednesday that an audit committee review found a lack of transparency and breaches of its ethics code by its chief executive, chief financial officer, and controller about its Q4 earnings.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) and Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) were flat.

Avangrid ( AGR ) was up 11% before Thursday's opening bell after the company said it had received a non-binding offer of $34.25 per share to take the company private from its controlling company, Iberdrola.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) was flat. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 0.2%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was flat.

Hamilton Insurance Group's ( HG ) shares were up 10% pre-bell Thursday after the company reported forecast-beating Q4 results late Wednesday.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil lost 0.4% to $78.78 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas advanced 0.10% at $1.93 per 1 million British Thermal Units. United States Oil Fund (USO) slipped 0.4%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 0.2% lower.

Gold futures for April advanced 0.40% to $2,167.45 an ounce on the Comex, and silver futures were 0.20% lower to $24.45 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) traded up 0.4%, and iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was 0.01% lower.