The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was down 0.3%, and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) retreated 0.9% in Thursday's premarket activity, amid weakness in semiconductor stocks.
US stock futures were mixed, with S&P 500 Index futures down 0.1%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gaining 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures slipping 0.5% before the start of regular trading.
US initial jobless claims fell to a level of 208,000 in the week ended July 11 from an upwardly revised 216,000 level in the previous week, compared with expectations for a level of 217,000 in a survey of analysts compiled by Bloomberg.
The New York Federal Reserve's services index jumped to 8.7 in July from minus 10.1 in June.
US retail sales rose by 0.2% in June, as expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and following the previous month's revised 1.0% increase.
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's monthly manufacturing index jumped to 41.4 in July after rising to 10.3 in June, compared with expectations for a much smaller increase to a reading of 12.5 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:30 am ET.
Reports releasing at 10:00 am ET include the pending home sales data for June, business inventories data for May, and home builder sentiment data for July.
Weekly natural gas stocks data will be released at 10:30 am ET.
Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson is slated to speak on Thursday.
In premarket action, bitcoin was down by 1.2%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 1.1% lower, Ether ETF (EETH) retreated 1.9%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) gained 2.1%.
Power Play:
Health Care
The State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) advanced 1%, the Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) gained 0.8%, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) rose 0.9%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) increased marginally by 0.02%.
UnitedHealth Group (UNH) stock was up more than 5% premarket after the company reported higher Q2 adjusted earnings and revenue.
Winners and Losers:
Industrial
The State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI) retreated 0.9%, while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) was down 0.7% and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) was inactive.
GE Aerospace (GE) stock was down more than 3% before the opening bell, even after the company reported higher Q2 adjusted earnings and revenue.
Consumer
The State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) was up 0.4%, the Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund ETF Shares (VDC) gained 0.7%, and the iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) advanced marginally by 0.03%. The State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) increased 0.4%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was inactive, while the State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) was down 0.6%.
Honda Motor (HMC) shares were up more than 2% pre-bell after a 0.7% decline at the prior close. Nikkei reported that the company plans to begin production of its UC3 electric motorcycle in Vietnam as early as September, shifting manufacturing from Thailand as it looks to capitalize on growing demand for electric two-wheelers in the country.
Financial
The State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) advanced 0.2%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 0.3%, while its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), was 0.4% lower.
UBS Group (UBS) shares traded down 2% in early hours activity following a 2.3% gain in the previous session. Bloomberg News reported, citing an internal memo, that the company hired former Goldman Sachs (GS) managing director Takehiro Sakuramoto to head its debt capital markets division in Japan.
Energy
The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) gained 0.9%, while the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) was up by 0.04%.
TotalEnergies (TTE) stock was down more than 2% before market open, extending losses from its 0.7% retreat at the end of Wednesday's session. The company said it expects Q2 hydrocarbon production to be nearly 2.4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, supported by about 4% organic growth.
Technology
The State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) retreated 1.5%, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 1.2% lower, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was down 0.7%. Among semiconductor ETFs, the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) declined 2.7%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) fell by 3.7%.
Nvidia (NVDA) shares were down more than 1% in premarket activity after advancing 0.3% at Wednesday's close. The company said it is working with Noetra to launch a factory of central processing units and graphics processing units to support the development of a national "Physical AI" infrastructure.
Commodities
Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil advanced by 1% to $80.41 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas was up by 0.8% to $2.95 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) was up 0.4%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 0.8% higher.
Gold futures for July retreated 0.5% to $4,032.80 an ounce on the Comex. Silver futures retreated by 0.7% to $57.02 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) decreased 1.4%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was 2.9% lower.