-- The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 1% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 1.7% higher in Wednesday's premarket activity amid news of a potential US-Iran truce.
US stock futures were mixed, with S&P 500 Index futures up 1%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures falling 1.2%, and Nasdaq futures advancing 1.6% before the start of regular trading.
US mortgage applications fell in the week ended May 1 amid higher mortgage rates, according to data released by the Mortgage Bankers Association early Wednesday.
ADP's monthly measure of private payrolls showed a 109,000 increase in April, below expectations compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:20 am ET for an increase of 120,000.
State-level unemployment data for March is slated for a 10 am ET release, followed by the weekly petroleum stocks at 10:30 am ET.
Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee is due to speak on Wednesday.
In premarket activity, bitcoin was down by 1.3%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 1.3% higher, Ether ETF (EETH) advanced 2%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) fell over 14%.
Power Play:
Financial
The State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) advanced 0.6%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 2%, while its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), was 1.9% lower.
Hut 8 (HUT) shares were up more than 24% pre-bell after the company reported higher Q1 revenue.
Winners and Losers:
Technology
The State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) gained 2.1%, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 2.4% higher, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was up 2.3%. Among semiconductor ETFs, the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) rose 3.6%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) increased by 4.3%.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shares were up more than 18% in premarket activity after the company overnight posted stronger-than-expected fiscal Q1 results and issued an upbeat Q2 revenue outlook.
Health Care
The State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) advanced 0.1%, the Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) was up 0.3%, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) was flat. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was 1% higher.
Novo Nordisk (NVO) stock was up more than 6% premarket after the company posted higher-than-expected Q1 earnings and revenue in addition to raising its 2026 adjusted sales growth guidance.
Energy
The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was down 4.2%, while the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) fell by 4.8%.
Equinor (EQNR) stock was down more than 9% before Wednesday's opening bell after the company reported lower Q1 revenue.
Industrial
The State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI) advanced 1.8%, while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) was up 2.3%, and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) was inactive.
Ametek (AME) stock was up more than 2% before the opening bell after the company agreed to acquire Indicor Instrumentation from Indicor in an all-cash deal valued at about $5 billion.
Consumer
The State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) was down 0.4%, and the Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund ETF Shares (VDC) was up 0.2%. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was flat. The State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) gained 1.3%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was inactive, while the State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) was 1.2% lower.
Amazon (AMZN) shares were up more than 1% a day after The Information reported the company-backed Anthropic will pay Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google Cloud about $200 billion over five years for computing capacity and processors.
Commodities
Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil retreated by 10% to $91.80 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas was down by 2.5% at $2.72 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) fell by 9.6%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 1.6% lower.
Gold futures for May rose by 3.1% to $4,711.90 an ounce on the Comex. Silver futures advanced by 5.7% to $77.79 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) was 3% higher, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) rose by 5.4%.