08:17 AM EDT, 06/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust ( SPY ) was marginally down by 0.01% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 0.2% higher in Tuesday's premarket activity, as markets were mixed amid uncertainty about interest rate cuts ahead of speeches by Federal Reserve officials later in the day.

US stock futures were also mixed, with S&P 500 Index futures slipping 0.02%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures retreating 0.1%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.1% before the start of regular trading.

The national retail sales bulletin will be released at 8:30 am ET, followed by the May industrial production bulletin at 9:15 am ET, and the April business inventories report at 10 am ET.

Federal Reserve Richmond President Thomas Barkin speaks at 10 am ET, Boston Fed President Susan Collins at 11:40 am ET, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem at 1 pm ET, Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan at 1 pm ET, and Chicago President Austan Goolsbee at 2 pm ET.

In premarket action, bitcoin was down by 1.7% and the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF ( BITO ) was 1.9% lower.

Power Play:

Consumer

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

Chegg ( CHGG ) shares traded up more than 21% pre-bell Tuesday after the company said overnight it plans to lay off 441 employees, or 23% of its global workforce, as part of a restructuring plan.

Winners and Losers:

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF ( IYE ) was inactive, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLE ) was flat.

NextEra Energy (NEE) shares fell more than 4% before Tuesday's opening bell after the company said late Monday it plans to sell $2 billion of equity units at $50 per unit.

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLV ) was 0.1% higher. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund ( VHT ) , the iShares US Healthcare ETF ( IYH ) , and the iShares Biotechnology ETF ( IBB ) were inactive.

UroGen Pharma ( URGN ) was down nearly 5% premarket after the company priced an underwritten public offering of 5 million ordinary shares at $17.50 each, and pre-funded warrants for 1,142,857 shares at $17.499 each, expecting gross proceeds of roughly $107.5 million.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLK ) gained 0.4%, and the iShares US Technology ETF ( IYW ) was 0.2% higher, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF ( IGM ) was up 1.5%. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF ( XSD ) was inactive, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF ( SOXX ) rose by 0.8%.

Super Micro Computer ( SMCI ) stock gained 2.3% in recent premarket activity after the company said late Monday it is introducing three new liquid-cooled data center manufacturing facilities in northern California and elsewhere to serve intense AI-focused applications.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLF ) retreated 0.1%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares ( FAS ) was down 0.4%, and its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares ( FAZ ) was 0.2% lower.

Brookfield (BN) shares were down 1.3% pre-bell after the company said late Monday it priced a public offering of $450 million of 5.675% senior notes due 2035 and a $200 million re-opening of its 5.968% notes due 2054.

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLI ) slipped 0.2% and the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund ( VIS ) advanced marginally by 0.04%, while the iShares US Industrials ETF ( IYJ ) was inactive.

Ault Alliance ( AULT/PD ) gained 2.7% before the opening bell after the company said its board announced a monthly cash dividend of $0.2708333 per share of its outstanding 13.00% Series D Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred stock, payable July 10.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil retreated 0.1% to $80.29 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas was 1% higher at $2.82 per 1 million British Thermal Units. United States Oil Fund ( USO ) retreated 0.1%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) gained nearly 1%.

Gold futures for August retreated 0.2% to $2,324.40 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures were down 0.5% to $29.24 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares ( GLD ) slipped 0.4%, and iShares Silver Trust ( SLV ) was nearly 1% lower.