Exchange-Traded Funds, Equity Futures Edge Higher Pre-Bell Thursday as Jobless Claims, Manufacturing Data Follows Fed's Rate Cut

08:48 AM EDT, 09/18/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.7% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 1% higher in Thursday's premarket activity as weekly jobless claims and manufacturing data followed the US Federal Reserve's rate cut.

US stock futures were also higher, with S&P 500 Index futures up 0.8%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advancing 0.6%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 1% before the start of regular trading.

US initial jobless claims fell by 33,000 to a level of 231,000 in the employment survey week ended Sept. 13, more than reversing an increase of 28,000 claims to a level of 264,000 in the previous week.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's monthly manufacturing index rebounded to 23.2 in September after falling to minus 0.3 in August, compared with expectations for a much smaller increase to a reading of 1.7 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:40 am ET.

The August leading indicators report posts at 10 am ET, followed by the weekly EIA natural gas report at 10:30 am ET.

In premarket activity, bitcoin was up by 1.4%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 1.4% higher, Ether ETF (EETH) was up 1.5%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) was 1.4%.

Power Play:

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) advanced 1.6%, while the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was marginally down by 0.03%. The iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was up 1.5%. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) rose 2.4%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) was 2.8% higher.

Intel's (INTC) stock rose more than 30% in recent premarket activity, and Nvidia (NVDA) shares were up more than 3% after Nvidia (NVDA) said it will invest $5 billion in Intel's (INTC) common stock at $23.28 per share as part of a collaboration to develop custom data center and personal computing products.

Winners and Losers:

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) advanced 0.6%, the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) was 1.3% higher, while the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) was inactive.

Red Cat (RCAT) stock was down more than 11% before the opening bell after the company said it has priced an underwritten public offering of about 15.6 million shares at $9.60 per share for gross proceeds of roughly $150 million.

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) advanced 0.4%. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) gained 0.9%, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) was inactive. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) rose 1%.

Novo Nordisk (NVO) stock was down more than 7% premarket after the company said its injectable Ozempic was linked to a 23% lower risk of heart attack, stroke, and death compared with dulaglutide in US Medicare patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) advanced 0.5%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 1.3%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 1.3% lower.

Radian Group (RDN) shares were down more than 4% pre-bell after the company said it will acquire Lloyd's specialty insurer, Inigo, for $1.70 billion in an all-cash deal.

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was up 0.1%, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) was flat. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was inactive, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) gained 0.7%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was inactive, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) rose 1%.

Amer Sports (AS) shares were up more than 5% pre-bell after Chief Executive James Zheng said it expects to deliver "very strong" Q3 results across all three segments.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was up 0.3%, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was up by 0.7%.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.5% at $64.35 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas retreated 0.1% to $3.10 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) was 0.7% higher, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) advanced by 0.5%.

Gold futures for December were down by 0.5% at $3,700.30 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures declined by 0.1% to $42.11 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) was up 0.1%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was 0.5% higher.

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