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) retreated by 0.5% in Wednesday's premarket activity, ahead of remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh in his first international speech at the European Central Bank's annual forum in Portugal.
US stock futures were also lower, with S&P 500 Index futures down 0.2%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipping 0.3%, and Nasdaq futures retreating 0.4% before the start of regular trading.
Mortgage applications rose by 0.04% in the week ended June 26, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data released Wednesday.
Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said on Wednesday that companies planned to cut 45,849 jobs in June, well below 97,006 in May and down from 47,999 a year ago.
ADP's monthly measure of private payrolls showed a 98,000 increase in June, well below expectations compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:35 am ET for an increase of 120,000.
Warsh is slated to speak at 9 am ET.
The final Purchasing Managers' manufacturing index for June will be released at 9:45 am ET, followed by the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index for the same month at 10 am ET.
The weekly EIA domestic petroleum inventories report is due at 10:30 am ET.
In premarket action, bitcoin was down by 0.2%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 0.6% lower, Ether ETF (EETH) retreated by 0.6%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) declined by 0.1%.
Power Play:
Industrial
The State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI) retreated by 0.4%, while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) were flat.
Bloom Energy (BE) stock was up more than 7% before the opening bell after Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) expanded its strategic partnership with Bloom, increasing its financing framework for artificial intelligence infrastructure power projects to $25 billion from $5 billion.
Winners and Losers:
Financial
The State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) retreated by 0.1%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was down 0.3%, while its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), was 0.5% higher.
Klarna (KLAR) shares traded up more than 7% in early hours activity after a court ruled in favor of its PriceRunner unit, awarding it $1.97 billion in damages in an antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google.
Health Care
The State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) retreated by 0.04%, the Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) was up 0.2%, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) slipped 0.03%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was 0.1% lower.
Alvotech (ALVO) stock was up more than 3% premarket after the company said it has amended its agreements with GoldenTree Asset Management and other lenders to obtain a term loan facility of up to $75 million in additional capital.
Consumer
The State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) was down 0.2%, the Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund ETF Shares (VDC) retreated by 0.2%, and the iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was up 0.2%. The State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) gained marginally by 0.02%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was inactive, while the State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) was inactive.
Kroger (KR) shares were down more than 2% pre-bell after the company said it has agreed to acquire regional supermarket chain Giant Eagle in a $1.65 billion deal, expanding its presence across northern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana.
Technology
The State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) retreated 0.7%, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 0.1% lower, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was up 0.3%. Among semiconductor ETFs, the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) was down 0.6%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) fell by 1.6%.
Microsoft (MSFT) shares were up more than 1% in Premarket activity after Business Insider reported the technology giant is planning to cut "thousands" of roles in sales and consulting, in addition to its Xbox gaming division.
Energy
The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was 1.5% higher, while the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) was down by 0.3%.
Shell (SHEL) stock was down more than 1% before market open, a day after Bloomberg News reported the company is close to a deal to sell over 600 retail fuel outlets in South Africa to Abu Dhabi National Oil's retail arm for a deal valued at around $1 billion.
Commodities
Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil retreated by 0.5% to $69.14 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas was down by 1.3% to $3.23 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) declined by 1.5%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 0.6% lower.
Gold futures for July were up by 0.2% to $4,046.90 an ounce on the Comex. Silver futures was down by 0.9% to $59.40 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) advanced by 0.3%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was 0.6% lower.