Exchange-Traded Funds, Equity Futures Higher Pre-Bell Thursday Amid Chipmaker Optimism, Eyes Turn to Fed Leadership Speculation

08:11 AM EDT, 06/26/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.4% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) advanced 0.5% in Thursday's premarket activity, after chipmaker Micron's upbeat forecast and speculations of potential Fed chair nominations.

US stock futures were also higher, with S&P 500 Index futures up 0.3%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advancing 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.4% before the start of regular trading.

Reports releasing at 8:30 am ET include the weekly jobless claims bulletin, the May durable goods orders report, the revised Q1 GDP estimate, the international trade in goods release for May, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index for May, the Q1 corporate profits report, and retail and wholesale inventories for May.

The pending home sales index for May posts at 10 am ET, and the weekly EIA natural gas bulletin at 10:30 am ET.

The Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index for June will be released at 11 am ET.

Federal Reserve Richmond President Thomas Barkin, Cleveland President Beth Hammack, Governor Michael Barr, and Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari speak on Thursday.

In premarket action, bitcoin was down by 0.5% and the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 0.5% lower.

Power Play:

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was up 0.3%, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) advanced 0.6%. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was inactive, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) gained 0.3%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was inactive, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) was 0.1% higher.

Nature's Sunshine Products (NATR) shares were down more than 15% pre-bell after the company said that a secondary offering of 2.85 million shares was priced at $12 per share.

Winners and Losers:

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) advanced 0.2% while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) was up 0.2% and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) gained 0.01%.

Acuity Brands (AYI) stock was up more than 7% before the opening bell after the company reported higher fiscal Q3 adjusted earnings and net sales.

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) advanced 0.1%. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) retreated marginally by 0.03% while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) gained 0.1%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was flat.

Aldeyra Therapeutics (ALDX) stock was up more than 4% premarket after the company said that it has received a Special Protocol Assessment agreement letter from the US Food and Drug Administration for a clinical trial of ADX-2191 in primary vitreoretinal lymphoma, a rare and potentially fatal cancer.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was inactive, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was up by 0.3%.

Golar LNG (GLNG) stock was up more than 3% before Thursday's opening bell after the company said it priced a private placement of $500 million of its 2.75% convertible senior unsecured notes due Dec. 15, 2030.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) gained 0.6%, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 0.4% higher, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was up 0.1%. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) rose 5.2%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) was 0.9% higher.

Micron Technology (MU) shares were up more than 2% in recent Thursday premarket activity after the company reported higher fiscal Q3 results and posted fiscal Q4 guidance higher than the expectations of analysts polled by FactSet.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) advanced 0.2%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 0.5%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 0.7% lower.

Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) shares were up more than 1% pre-bell Thursday after Bloomberg reported the company is close to finalizing a deal to acquire a majority stake in Oman Tower, a telecommunications tower operator managing about 2,400 sites across Oman.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil advanced 0.5% to $65.25 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas was down 2.3% at $3.33 per 1 million British Thermal Units. United States Oil Fund (USO) was 0.01% lower, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) declined by 1.2%.

Gold futures for August gained 0.3% to $3,352.80 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures were up 1% to $36.82 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) was marginally lower by 0.01%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was 0.6% higher.

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