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Exchange-Traded Funds, Equity Futures Mixed Pre-Bell Friday as Tech Rally Continues

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The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was 0.03% lower and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 0.2% higher in Friday's premarket activity amid technology gains and the Federal Reserve's rate hike.

US stock futures were mixed, with S&P 500 Index futures up 0.1%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipping 0.03%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.4% before the start of regular trading.

State unemployment and leading indicators data for August are due to be released at 10 am ET.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid are slated to speak Friday.

In premarket activity, bitcoin was up by 1.9%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 2% higher, Ether ETF (EETH) advanced 2.6%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) advanced 0.5%.

Power Play:

Health Care

The State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) retreated 0.2%, the Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) was 0.2% lower, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) gained 1%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was down 0.1%.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals (XENE) shares were down 22% after the company paused enrollment of new patients in studies for major depressive disorder and bipolar depression.

Winners and Losers:

Consumer

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

CAVA (CAVA) shares were up more than 3% pre-bell after the company said its board authorized a plan for the repurchase of up to $100 million of its outstanding common stock.

Technology

The State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) advanced 0.1%, the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 0.8% higher, and the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was up 0.3%. Among semiconductor ETFs, the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) gained 0.6%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rose by 0.2%.

Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) shares were up 2% in premarket activity after the company said its Waymo unit intends to open its fully autonomous ride-hailing service to riders in Singapore in 2028.

Financial

The State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) retreated 0.4%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was down 0.9%, while its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), was 1.3% higher.

HSBC (HSBC) shares were down 1% after the Australian reported that National Australia Bank is considering the acquisition of HSBC's Australian retail deposit business.

Industrial

The State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI) advanced 0.01%, while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) were flat.

Waste Connections (WCN) stock was up more than 1% before the opening bell after UBS upgraded it to buy from neutral.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was down 0.3%, while the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) was 0.6% lower.

BP (BP) stock was down more than 1% after Osaka Gas said BP Developments Australia has agreed to sell a 5% stake in the Browse liquefied natural gas project in Western Australia to Osaka Gas Browse.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil gained by 0.2% to reach $102.12 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas was up 0.3% at $2.91 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) increased by 0.2%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 0.4% higher.

Gold futures for November retreated by 0.04% to $4,397.80 an ounce on the Comex. Silver futures rose 1.1% to $66.83 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) was up by 0.6%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) rose by 2%.

What else is happening in Commodities?

Commodities

PJM Activates Demand Response, Secures US DOE Emergency Order Amid Heat, Outages

PJM Interconnection activated demand response resources and secured an emergency order from the US Department of Energy as unusually warm September weather and 36 gigawatts of outages tightened power-system reserves, according to a statement on Thursday.The DOE order, secured amid the heat and in effect through Friday, eases some plant restrictions and permits backup power use at large-load sites, including data centers.PJM issued Pre-Emergency and Emergency Demand Response for customers across its footprint Thursday afternoon to strengthen reserves ahead of the evening peak.The programs compensate customers in advance for agreeing to reduce electricity use when PJM calls on them, providing operators with additional flexibility during periods of higher demand.A Maximum Generation or Load Management Alert also remained active across PJM, allowing generation and transmission owners to defer or cancel maintenance or testing where possible, the grid operator said.The alert also warns neighboring systems that PJM may curtail electricity exports.Above-normal temperatures across much of PJM pushed the forecast peak load to about 132 GW as of noon Thursday.Hotter weather also increased electricity demand and export needs to neighboring regions to the south and west, where temperatures were even higher.PJM is in its annual outage season, when transmission and generation operators typically conduct maintenance and construction from mid-September through December ahead of extreme-weather demand, PJM Inside Lines said.PJM pulled back some planned generation and transmission outages, but roughly 36 GW of generation capacity remained offline, along with transmission outages, the grid operator said.

Commodities

Ethanol's Renewable Identification Numbers Generation Held Steady in August, EPA Says

The number of renewable identification numbers generated in August for ethanol under the Renewable Fuel Standard remained steady from July, the Environmental Protection Agency reported on Thursday.EPA reported 1.2 billion D6 ethanol RINs in August, almost all for ethanol by domestic producers. That was unchanged from July.For D4 biomass-based diesel, 693 million RINs were generated in August, down from 545.8 million in 2025.D5 advanced biofuel generation totaled 23.1 million RINS.The D4 and D5 combined total of 716.2 million fell below July's total of 823.2 million.Matt Gammans, assistant professor of agricultural policy at North Dakota State University, says the RIN generation report suggests a lower production rate than what will be needed to hit the Renewable Volume Obligation."That said, generation has increased from last year. The recent decline will need to be offset by stronger production later in the year or a draw on banked credits. If we get another report this low next month, we might expect to see a positive response in RIN prices," Gammans said.

Commodities

US Natural Gas Update: Prices Fall as Demand Outlook Weighs on Storage Bullishness

US natural gas prices softened in after-hours trading Thursday as a cooler weather outlook for late September outweighed bullish sentiment from a smaller-than-expected weekly storage build.The front-month Henry Hub contract and the continuous contract each fell 0.76% to $2.869 per million British thermal units.The approach of autumn is weighing on prices as cooling demand is expected to fade beginning next week. Barchart, citing Commodity Weather Group forecasts, said Thursday that the outlook had shifted cooler, with above-average temperatures expected to cover a smaller portion of the South and Southeast from Sept. 22 through Oct. 1.The cooler outlook offset some of the support provided by the Energy Information Administration's weekly storage report. US natural gas inventories rose by 44 billion cubic feet in the week ended Sept. 11, the EIA said Thursday, below analysts' estimates for a build of 48 Bcf to 49 Bcf and well below the five-year average increase of 74 Bcf for the week.The injection was also substantially below the 90 Bcf build recorded during the same week last year.Working gas in storage stood at 3,298 Bcf, down 122 Bcf, or 3.6%, from year-earlier levels but 118 Bcf, or 3.7%, above the five-year average. A week earlier, inventories were 2.7% below year-ago levels and 4.8% above the five-year average.Pinebrook Energy Advisors said storage builds have increased in recent weeks but remain lighter than normal for this time of year, steadily eroding the storage cushion accumulated earlier in the summer.That tightening backdrop has provided underlying support to the market even as power-generation demand begins to ease, the advisory firm said.Late-season heat has limited storage injections by driving demand from the power sector. Despite temperatures remaining above normal, they are trending lower as the season advances, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing Andy Huenefeld of Pinebrook Energy Advisors.Huenefeld said the trend points to stronger storage builds in the coming weeks before more significant heating demand emerges in October.US Lower 48 dry-gas production was 113.2 Bcf/d Thursday, up 5.0% from a year earlier, according to BNEF. Lower 48 gas demand was 77.0 Bcf/d, up 3.8% year over year.Estimated LNG net flows to US export terminals were 18.7 Bcf/d, down 4.1% from the previous week, BNEF data showed.Market sentiment had received a boost Wednesday after the Edison Electric Institute reported that US Lower 48 electricity output in the week ended Sept. 12 rose 16.1% from a year earlier to 94,427 gigawatt-hours.Electricity output over the 52 weeks ended Sept. 12 rose 3.3% year over year to 4,405,549 GWh.