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Exchange-Traded Funds, Equity Futures Higher Pre-Bell Friday as Investors Take Positions Amid Corporate Earnings

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The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.3% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 0.3% higher in Friday's premarket activity as traders take positions amid corporate earnings release and monitor incoming macroeconomic data.

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

The Baker Hughes domestic oil-and-gas rig count will be released at 1 pm ET.

Federal Reserve San Francisco President Mary Daly, Richmond President Thomas Barkin and Governor Christopher Waller are slated to speak on Friday.

In premarket activity, bitcoin was up by 0.1%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 0.2% higher, Ether ETF (EETH) retreated 0.5%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) declined by 0.5%.

Power Play:

Consumer

The State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) was up 0.2% and the Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund ETF Shares (VDC) gained 0.7%. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was flat. The State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) advanced 0.2%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was inactive, while the State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) was 0.04% higher.

Autoliv (ALV) shares were up more than 9% pre-bell after the company reported higher-than-expected Q1 adjusted earnings and revenue.

Winners and Losers:

Health Care

The State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) advanced 0.6%, the Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) was up 1.3%, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) gained 1.1%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was 0.2% higher.

Trevi Therapeutics (TRVI) stock was down more than 8% premarket after the company said late Thursday it priced a public offering of 11.6 million common shares at $13 each for about $150 million in gross proceeds.

Financial

The State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) advanced 0.3%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 0.8%, while its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), was 0.9% lower.

Ally Financial (ALLY) shares were up more than 5% pre-bell after the company reported higher Q1 adjusted earnings and revenue.

Industrial

The State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI) advanced 0.4%, while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) rose 0.9% and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) was inactive.

JetBlue (JBLU) stock was up more than 1% before the opening bell after the company said Thursday it started daily seasonal flights connecting Boston and Barcelona.

Technology

The State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) advanced by 0.9%, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 0.9% higher, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was up 0.5%. Among semiconductor ETFs, the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) rose 2.4% while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) increased by 0.6%.

Microsoft (MSFT) shares were up more than 1% in Friday's premarket activity. Microsoft Italy and Expert.ai said they have entered into a collaboration to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence for enterprise use cases.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was down 0.3%, while the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) retreated by 0.7%.

Exxon Mobil (XOM) stock was down nearly 1% before Friday's opening bell. Reuters reported Thursday that the company has withdrawn an offer to sell two initial cargoes of liquefied natural gas from its Golden Pass export plant in Texas.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell by 3.7% to $91.19 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas gained by 1.4% to reach $2.69 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) retreated by 2.9%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 0.6% higher.

Gold futures for May were up by 0.2% at $4,815.60 an ounce on the Comex. Silver futures gained by 1% to reach $79.49 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) was 0.2% higher, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) advanced by 1.1%.

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OneSubsea, Toyo Partner to Advance Carbon Capture in Southeast Asia

OneSubsea and Toyo Engineering are exploring carbon capture projects in Southeast Asia, signaling rising investment in CCS, Oil Cyprus said Wednesday.The partnership will focus on identifying and developing carbon capture and storage opportunities across the region, targeting emissions reduction from existing and future energy operations.Toyo Engineering will contribute its expertise in engineering, procurement, and construction, supporting project development and infrastructure deployment for CCS initiatives, Oil Cyprus added.The collaboration is expected to accelerate the adoption of carbon capture technologies across Southeast Asia's oil and gas industry, where decarbonization efforts are gaining momentum.It may also encourage further investment in CCS infrastructure, helping reduce emissions while supporting continued energy production in the region, the report added.The move highlights the growing role of CCS in helping energy companies meet climate targets while maintaining long-term operational and revenue sustainability.OneSubsea was established in 2023 as a joint venture backed by SLB.

Commodities

US Natural Gas Update: Futures Rise Supported by Weather Shift

US natural gas futures extended gains in after-hours trading on Thursday, supported by shifting weather forecasts that prompted late-session buying after a larger-than-expected storage build.The front-month Henry Hub contract and the continuous benchmark each climbed 2.41% to settle at $2.673 per million British thermal units.Barchart said prices moved higher late Thursday as a mixed weather outlook triggered short-covering. It cited the Commodity Weather Group as saying forecasts shifted cooler across the eastern two-thirds of the US through Apr. 20, while above-average temperatures are expected in the eastern US and Upper Midwest from Apr. 21-25.Earlier on Thursday, the US Energy Information Administration reported its third consecutive weekly inventory increase, stating that stockpiles in underground storage rose by 59 billion cubic feet to 1,970 Bcf for the week ending Apr. 10. The build exceeded market expectations for a 55 Bcf increase, according to data from Investing.com.Inventories were now 126 Bcf above year-ago levels and 108 Bcf above the five-year average of 1,862 Bcf, though they remain within the historical five-year range, the EIA said. The latest injection also surpassed last year's 22 Bcf build and the five-year average increase of 38 Bcf.On the supply side, US lower-48 dry gas production was estimated at 110.7 Bcf per day on Thursday, up 3.3% year over year, Barchart said, citing BNEF. Demand in the lower 48 states was 70.0 Bcf per day, down 4.3% from a year earlier. Estimated LNG net flows to export terminals were 19.9 Bcf per day, unchanged week over week.Gelber & Associates said supply, US production plus Canadian imports, was running at 114 Bcf per day against demand of 105 Bcf per day. On the demand side, power burn has improved to 32 Bcf per day on a weekly basis, but that support has been offset by a sharp drop in residential and commercial demand to 13.5 Bcf per day from 20.8 Bcf per day last week as heating demand continues to decline."With the storage surplus widening and the broader balance still comfortable, the front of the curve looks likely to stay under pressure unless weather can generate a more durable demand response," Gelber & Associates said early Thursday.

Commodities

UK's Drax Gets Record $1.4 billion Subsidy in 2025 As Support Set To Be Halved, Ember Says

UK's Drax Group received a record 999 million British pounds ($1.4 billion) in public subsidies in 2025 for its biomass power station, even as support is set to be cut from 2027, Ember strategists said in a note Thursday.Ember analysts said the payments, funded through consumer energy bills, amount to about 2.7 million British pounds per day and add about 13 British pounds to the average UK household bill per year.Frankie Mayo, senior UK analyst at Ember, said, subsidies are set to fall to about 460 million British pounds per year from early 2027, marking the start of a phase-out of support for large-scale biomass generation.Mayo said that would still amount to about 1.25 million British pounds per day, or about 6 British pounds per household annually.Drax operates the UK's largest power station by output and is also its single biggest carbon emitter. However, emissions from burning woody biomass are classified as carbon-neutral under current accounting rules, allowing it to qualify for renewable energy subsidies.Ember said support has been delivered through two schemes, the Renewables Obligation, which paid 728 million British pounds in 2025 for three of Drax's generating units, and Contracts for Difference, which provided 271 million British pounds for a fourth unit.Total subsidies paid to Drax since 2012 have reached 8.72 billion British pounds, the majority of which have been through the RO scheme, which is due to end in Q1 2027.Ember said a new, lower CfD mechanism will replace it, with the contract running for up to four years until 2031. Though the strike price under the new scheme will rise to 157 British pounds per megawatt hour in 2024 prices, the volume of subsidized generation will be capped at lower levels.However, despite the reduction in support, Ember expects Drax to remain the UK's largest emitter through at least 2030 due to the scale of its operations.The long-term outlook for the plant remains uncertain, as Drax has stepped back from plans to invest in carbon capture technology, which had been central to its case for continued subsidies. Without carbon capture, Ember analysts say the rationale for ongoing public support weakens significantly.The energy firm has already scaled back related projects and shifted investment towards other energy technologies, raising further questions over the future role of biomass in the UK's power mix.