08:14 AM EDT, 05/22/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust ( SPY ) was down 0.2% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was unchanged in Wednesday's premarket activity, ahead of the release of Nvidia (NVDA) earnings and the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes.

US stock futures were lower, with S&P 500 Index futures down 0.2%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipping 0.1%, and Nasdaq futures losing 0.1% before the start of regular trading.

Mortgage applications increased by 1.9% in the week ending May 17, driven by a 7% rise in refinancing activity as mortgage rates continued to fall, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. New purchase applications dropped by 1% while the average interest rate for 30-year fixed mortgages decreased to 7.01%, marking the third consecutive weekly decline.

Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee speaks at 9:40 am ET.

The April existing homes sales bulletin, the Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations report for May, and the Q1 Services Survey will be released at 10 am ET, while the EIA petroleum status report posts at 10:30 am ET.

The Federal Reserve is slated to release the minutes of its April 30 to May 1 policy meeting at 2 pm ET.

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

Power Play:

Health Care

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

LifeStance Health Group ( LFST ) shares were down more than 15% premarket after the company said late Tuesday that a secondary underwritten public offering of 20 million of its common shares was priced at $6.25 per share.

Winners and Losers:

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLI ) , the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund ( VIS ) , and the iShares US Industrials ETF ( IYJ ) were inactive.

Dycom Industries ( DY ) gained nearly 10% before the opening bell after the company reported higher fiscal Q1 earnings and contract revenue.

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLP ) was up 0.3%. The Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC), the iShares US Consumer Staples ETF ( IYK ) , the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLY ) , and the VanEck Retail ETF ( RTH ) were inactive. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF ( XRT ) was 1.1% lower.

Target ( TGT ) shares traded down more than 7% pre-bell after the company reported lower Q1 adjusted earnings and revenue.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF ( IYE ) was inactive, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLE ) was down by 0.1%.

Dorian LPG ( LPG ) was down 2.9% before Wednesday's opening bell after reporting fiscal Q4 adjusted earnings of $1.91 per diluted share, down from $1.94 a year earlier.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLK ) advanced 0.2%, and the iShares US Technology ETF ( IYW ) was 0.1% higher, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF ( IGM ) was inactive. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF ( XSD ) was up 0.5%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF ( SOXX ) rose by 0.8%.

BlackLine ( BL ) shares were down 1.2% in recent Wednesday premarket activity after the company said it priced an offering of $600 million of 1% convertible senior notes due 2029, in a private placement, upsized from $500 million.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLF ) retreated 0.2%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares ( FAS ) was down 0.3%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares ( FAZ ) was 0.6% higher.

KKR (KKR) was up 0.5% pre-bell Wednesday after the company said late Tuesday it had agreed to invest in PHINMA Education Holdings, the education division of Filipino conglomerate PHINMA.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil retreated 0.7% to $78.08 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas was down nearly 1% to $2.65 per 1 million British Thermal Units. United States Oil Fund ( USO ) was 0.5% lower, while the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) slipped 0.2%.

Gold futures for August fell 0.3% to $2,440.90 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures retreated 0.1% to $32.03 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares ( GLD ) lost 0.5%, and iShares Silver Trust ( SLV ) was 0.8% lower.