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Exchange-Traded Funds, Equity Futures Higher Pre-Bell Friday Buoyed by Robust Corporate Earnings Season

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The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.5% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 0.4% higher in Friday's premarket activity, buoyed by a robust corporate earnings season.

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 final University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading for May and the leading indicators data for April will be released at 10 am ET.

Kansas City Fed's services reading for May is slated for an 11 am ET release.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller speaks on Friday.

In premarket activity, bitcoin was down by 0.4%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 0.5% lower, Ether ETF (EETH) retreated by 0.7%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) declined by 0.03%.

Power Play:

Technology

The State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) advanced by 0.4%, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 0.7% 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) increased by 0.5%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rose by 0.7%.

Workday (WDAY) shares were up more than 7% in premarket activity after the company's fiscal Q1 results overnight surpassed market expectations.

Winners and Losers:

Industrial

The State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI) advanced 0.2%, while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) were flat.

Rocket Lab (RKLB) stock was up more than 2% before the opening bell after the company received a $90 million US Space Force contract to design, build, and operate two satellites hosting the Heimdall space domain awareness payload.

Health Care

The State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) advanced 0.3%, the Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) was down 0.1%, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) was flat. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was 0.1% lower.

Novo Nordisk (NVO) stock was down more than 1% premarket, after an almost similar fall in the previous session. The European Medicines Agency said it has recommended extending Wegovy's marketing authorization to include its oral formulation for weight management.

Financial

The State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) advanced 0.2%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 0.4%, while its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), was 0.5% lower.

UBS (UBS) shares were down more than 1% pre-bell. The company said Thursday it expects the voluntary review of Credit Suisse's World War II operations to conclude by the end of the year.

Consumer

The State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) was up 0.3% and the Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund ETF Shares (VDC) gained 0.5%. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was down 0.2%. The State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) advanced by 0.1%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was inactive, while the State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) increased 0.4%.

Yum China Holdings (YUMC) shares were down more than 1% pre-bell, continuing from a 1.3% decline at the prior close. The company said its KFC light-meal business, KPRO, now operates more than 300 sites in China.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was inactive, while the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) was down by 0.2%.

TotalEnergies (TTE) stock was down more than 1% before the opening bell after Bloomberg reported the company is considering selling a 50% stake in a portfolio of European renewable energy assets.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil advanced by 1.2% to $97.49 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas was down 1.2% at $2.98 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) retreated by 0.7%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 0.9% lower.

Gold futures for May retreated by 0.5% to $4,521.20 an ounce on the Comex. Silver futures declined by 0.8% to $76.09 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) was down by 0.4%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) fell by 1.3%.

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Commodities

Middle East Conflict Raised Energy Costs but Limited Economic Damage, Fed's Barkin Says

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Tom Barkin on Thursday said Middle East tensions raised fuel and energy costs but caused less disruption than many expected."We've all seen the price jump at the gas pump," Barkin said, adding that higher energy prices are also lifting freight, airfare and packaging costs.Barkin said higher energy costs are feeding into inflation pressures, with headline personal consumption expenditures inflation rising to 3.5% over the year in March 2026."While it's rocked the boat, it's done so less than one might have imagined," Barkin said about the Middle East conflict, noting that consumer spending and broader economic activity have remained resilient despite higher energy costs."The US economy remains remarkably resilient," Barkin said, pointing to strong consumer spending, manufacturing activity and artificial intelligence investment despite higher energy prices."The US economy has become somewhat immune to oil price shocks because we export more than we import," Barkin said, adding that vehicles have also become more fuel efficient.Barkin added that larger tax refunds, supportive financial conditions, and strong artificial intelligence investment have also helped offset weaker demand from higher energy prices.Businesses and consumers still view the latest oil shock as temporary because many expect the US to avoid prolonged high oil prices and an extended Middle East conflict, Barkin said."The extent of the damage will depend on how long the conflict lasts," Barkin said, adding that recovery will also depend on how quickly supply chains and manufacturing capacity rebound afterward.Barkin said recent increases in gasoline prices have pushed up short-term inflation expectations, while businesses are showing greater willingness to pass higher conflict-driven energy costs onto consumers.Long-term inflation expectations remain relatively stable for now, Barkin added, although inflation has stayed above the Federal Reserve's 2% target for more than five years, raising concerns that repeated supply shocks could eventually weaken those expectations.

Commodities

Australia's One Nation Reportedly Unveils Norway-Style Energy Sovereign Wealth Plan

Australia's right-wing populist party, Pauline Hanson's One Nation, on Thursday proposed creating a Norway-style sovereign wealth fund and having the federal government take stakes in offshore energy projects, multiple news outlets reported.Pauline Hanson, the anti-immigration senator who founded One Nation in 1997 and remains the party's leader, made the proposal at the Australian Energy Producers conference in Adelaide.Under One Nation's proposal, a new Australian National Wealth Investment Corporation would take a 30% stake in offshore production licenses in Commonwealth waters.The government would share development and decommissioning costs and retain part of the production for domestic use, including fertilizer manufacturing and fuel production.One Nation, which campaigns on nationalist and conservative policies including lower immigration and expanded fossil fuel development, has gained momentum this year after winning its first seat in Australia's House of Representatives.The party has also received support from mining billionaire Gina Rinehart, Australia's richest person who donated a plane and hosts fundraisers for the party.Rinehart, through her majority stake in the parent company of Hancock Energy, owns coal seam gas assets in Queensland and onshore conventional gas assets in Western Australia.Those operations are governed by state law and would not be directly affected by One Nation's proposed federal policy, although the party has previously opposed some coal seam gas developments, Reuters reported."We want more gas, more oil and more energy to drive our country forward," Hanson reportedly told delegates at the conference.Hanson criticized the Labor government's recently announced policy requiring gas exporters to reserve 20% of production for east coast domestic consumers, a proposal that has faced strong opposition from the energy industry since being unveiled earlier this month.Hanson said her party's proposal was "not a socialist takeover," describing it as an industry-led model that would apply only to federal offshore waters. She also pledged to reduce project approval timelines to six months.Jane Norman, chief executive of Amplitude Energy, said a government joint-venture structure could help align industry and public interests. She said her company expected to spend about 20 million Australian dollars ($14.3 million) to secure regulatory approvals for offshore exploration drilling, Reuters reported.Critics said One Nation's proposal was more interventionist than the Labor government's existing energy policy and could expose taxpayers to financial risks.The Sydney Morning Herald reported this week that industry lobbyists had spent 11.2 million Australian dollars on an advertising campaign opposing a proposed 25% windfall tax on gas exports.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected the idea of a windfall tax, citing concerns about Australia's trade relationships with key Asian energy buyers, while supporters argue higher taxes are needed to secure greater public returns from gas exports.Hanson has described windfall tax proposals as "economic vandalism," warning they would discourage investment and reduce domestic gas supply.One Nation did not immediately respond to' request for comments.

Commodities

US Natural Gas Update: Futures Mixed After Bearish Storage Surprise

US natural gas futures were mixed in after-hours trading on Thursday as a larger-than-expected storage build pressured the front-month price down.The front-month Henry Hub contract slipped 0.10% to $3.001 per MMBtu, while the continuous contract rose 4.39% to $3.136/MMBtu.The June contract, set to expire next week, traded between $2.98 and $3.066/MMBtu during the session.Sentiment weakened after the US Energy Information Administration reported a 101 billion cubic foot injection into Lower 48 storage for the week ending May 15. The build exceeded both the five-year average increase of 92 Bcf and market expectations around 96 Bcf.Total working gas stocks now stand at 2,391 Bcf, up 33 Bcf, or 6.6%, from a year earlier and 149 Bcf above the five-year seasonal average.Weather-driven demand also faded after a short-lived East Coast heat event that had previously lifted power burn. Temperatures normalized on Thursday, reducing near-term consumption.According to Celsius Energy, power burn on Wednesday fell to 34.3 Bcf, down 1.8 Bcf from the prior day but 6.3 Bcf above the same period last year. The firm also reported a seven-day average power burn of 30.6 Bcf/d for May 14-20, up 0.5 Bcf/d year over year.On the supply side, BNEF data showed Lower-48 dry gas production at 110.4 Bcf/d on Thursday, up 2.4% year over year. Domestic demand came in at 71.2 Bcf/d, essentially flat, up 0.1% annually. Net flows to US LNG export terminals were estimated at 18.4 Bcf/d, rising 4.2% week over week after hitting lows earlier this week due to ongoing scheduled maintenance.Looking ahead, Barchart, citing data from the Commodity Weather Group, said above-normal temperatures are expected across the western US and Upper Midwest into late May and early June, a factor that could boost medium-term demand.