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Exchange-Traded Funds Higher, Equity Futures Mixed Pre-Bell Friday After August Jobs Report Tops Estimates

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The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.03%, and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) advanced 0.5% in Friday's premarket activity, as the August jobs report topped estimates.

US stock futures were mixed, with S&P 500 Index futures down 0.24%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipping 0.34%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.5% before the start of regular trading.

Nonfarm payrolls jumped by 162,000, well above the 55,000 jobs increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:15 am ET.

The unemployment rate remained at 4.1%, as expected, while the labor force participation rate rose to 61.6% from 61.4% in July and the size of the labor force surged.

In premarket action, bitcoin was up by 1%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 2.8% lower, Ether ETF (EETH) was down 2.91%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) was flat.

Power Play:

Consumer

The State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) was down 0.38, the Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund ETF Shares (VDC) was down 0.07, and the iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was up 0.8%. The State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) lost 0.64%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was inactive, while the State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) was inactive.

Tesla (TSLA) shares were down 3.2% pre-bell after Future Fund Managing Director Gary Black Gary Black on X called the Cybercab event "largely a bust" because of its limited deployment details and the lack of a livestream.

The autonomous cab service also came under investigation by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over the process used to claim compliance with federal vehicle safety standards.

Winners and Losers:

Technology

The State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) gained 0.7%, the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was roughly 0.5% higher, and the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was up 0.02%. Among semiconductor ETFs, the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) rose by more than 1.3%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rose by 1.9%.

Nvidia (NVDA) shares were up almost 1% in premarket activity after the company said its RTX platform is gaining new tools to simplify local AI agent deployment and also increased its equity investments to $99 billion, CNBC reported Friday.

The company is also reportedly expected to invest billions of dollars in AI developer Thinking Machines Lab, The Information reported Thursday, citing the firm's existing investor, Andreessen Horowitz.

Health Care

The State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) dropped 0.2%, the Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) was down 1.2%, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) slipped 0.2%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) gained 0.03%.

Novo Nordisk (NVO) stock was down 2.2% premarket after the company said its charitable foundation and its Quantum Foundry Copenhagen company are planning to set up a new 5,300-square-meter quantum chip production facility in Copenhagen.

Financial

The State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) was down 0.4%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up nearly 1%, while its counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), was over 1.1% higher.

Robinhood Markets (HOOD) shares traded down 3.7% in early-hours activity after AMC Entertainment (AMC) CEO Adam Aron criticized Robinhood Markets (HOOD) on the recently launched tokenized version of AMC shares, referring to the practice as "contemptible" and "outrageous".

Industrial

The State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI) advanced almost 0.1%, while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) were inactive.

GE Vernova (GEV) stock was up 0.6% before the opening bell after the company reported a deal with the Venezuelan government that is expected to help stabilize the country's power grid within a year by adding 1 gigawatt of new power, several media outlets reported Thursday, citing US Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) retreated by around 0.1%, while the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) was down by 0.6%.

NextEra Energy (NEE) stock was down 0.4% before the market open after Dominion Energy (D) and NextEra said shareholders have given consent to proceed with a planned merger between the companies, according to regulatory filings Thursday.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil retreated by 0.7% to $90.93 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas was up 0.3% to $2.92 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) decreased by 1%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 1.1% higher.

Gold futures for November retreated by 0.5% to $4,515.20 an ounce on the Comex. Silver futures lost 0.3% to $67.49 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) was down by almost 0.1%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) dropped by 0.04%.

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