08:25 AM EDT, 07/02/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust ( SPY ) was down 0.5% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 0.6% lower in Tuesday's premarket activity, as investors await Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech for interest rate guidance.

US stock futures were also lower, with S&P 500 Index futures down 0.5%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipping 0.4%, and Nasdaq futures retreating 0.6% before the start of regular trading.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is slated to speak at a European Central Bank meeting at 9:30 am ET.

The Jobs Opening and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, for May posts at 10 am.

In premarket action, bitcoin was down by 1.1% and the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF ( BITO ) was 1% lower.

Power Play:

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLI ) retreated 0.1%, and the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund ( VIS ) declined 0.1%, while the iShares US Industrials ETF ( IYJ ) was inactive.

Ocean Power Technologies ( OPTT ) gained more than 47% before the opening bell after the company said it partnered with Unique Group, a UAE-based subsea technology and engineering firm, to deploy OPT's WAM-V Unmanned Surface Vehicles in the GCC region.

Winners and Losers:

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLP ) retreated 0.1%, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) was flat. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF ( IYK ) was inactive, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLY ) lost 0.3%. The VanEck Retail ETF ( RTH ) was inactive, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF ( XRT ) was flat.

Conn's (CONN) shares traded down more than 44% after Bloomberg News reported, citing unnamed sources, that the company is considering a potential bankruptcy filing amid declining sales.

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLV ) retreated 0.2%. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund ( VHT ) , the iShares US Healthcare ETF ( IYH ) and the iShares Biotechnology ETF ( IBB ) were inactive.

Aspira Women's Health (AWH) stock gained more than 11% after the company said it expects gross proceeds of about $1.935 million from a private placement.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF ( IYE ) was inactive, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLE ) was up by 0.5%.

U.S. Energy ( USEG ) shares were nearly 10% higher before Tuesday's opening bell after the company said Monday it closed the acquisition of operated acreage for helium production in the Kevin Dome structure in Toole County, Montana, from Wavetech Helium.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLK ) retreated 0.4%, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 0.3% lower, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF ( IGM ) slipped 0.1%. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF ( XSD ) was inactive, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF ( SOXX ) fell by 0.8%.

CrowdStrike Holdings ( CRWD ) shares were down 2.5% in recent premarket activity after Piper Sandler downgraded the company to neutral from overweight.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLF ) retreated 0.3%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares ( FAS ) was down 0.8%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 1.1% higher.

Coinbase Global ( COIN ) shares lost 1.2% premarket Tuesday even after the company said late Monday that the US Marshals Service chose its platform Coinbase Prime to safeguard and trade the agency's class 1 digital assets.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil advanced 0.9% to $84.10 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas was 0.9% lower at $2.46 per 1 million British Thermal Units. United States Oil Fund ( USO ) gained 0.7%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) fell 0.8%.

Gold futures for August retreated 0.2% to $2,333.30 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures gained 0.02% to $29.62 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares ( GLD ) fell 0.3%, and iShares Silver Trust ( SLV ) was 0.2% lower.