ETF Preview: ETFs, Futures Marginally Lower After Mortgage Applications Fall, Durable Goods New Orders Rise Less Than Expected

Broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY fell nearly 0.4% in premarket activity Wednesday, and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ declined 0.5%.

US stock futures were also marginally lower, with the S&P 500 receding about 0.5% ahead of the start of trading.

Traders will be looking at data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showing mortgage applications falling by 1.2% in the week ended May 20, following an 11% decrease in overall activity in the week ended May 13.

Durable goods new orders in the US rose 0.4% in April, compared with a prior revised reading of 0.6% and expectations for a 0.6% gain in a survey of analysts by Bloomberg.

The Energy Information Administration's weekly report on US petroleum inventories is scheduled for release at 10:30 am ET, followed by the Atlanta Fed's monthly survey of business uncertainty in the US at 11 am ET.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard is due to speak at 12:15 pm ET, and the Federal Open Market Committee will release the minutes of its May meeting at 2 pm ET.

In premarket action, bitcoin was about 0.1% lower, while cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF BITO was 0.6% higher.

Power Play: Health Care

The Health Care SPDR XLV was flat, and iShares Dow Jones US Healthcare IYH was flat. The Vanguard Health Care ETF VHT was inactive, and iShares Biotechnology ETF IBB was 0.5% lower.

OraSure Technologies OSUR rose more than 4% after it said the US Department of Health and Human Services has selected the company's InteliSwab COVID-19 Rapid Test for distribution across schools in the country.

Winners and Losers

Financials

Select Financial Sector SPDR XLF was almost 0.4% lower. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares FAS lost 1.3%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares FAZ climbed about 1%.

Allegiance Bancshares AABTX and CBTX CCBTX said Tuesday shareholders of both companies have approved a merger between the two banks. Both stocks were unchanged ahead of Wednesday's market open.

Energy

Dow Jones US Energy Fund IYE was flat, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF XLE inched 0.2% higher in premarket activity.

Equinor EQNR gained 2.6% after saying it has made a new oil discovery at the Snofonn Nord exploration well in the Barents Sea. The discovery is estimated to hold between 37 million and 50 million barrels of recoverable oil.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose just over 1%, and natural gas increased about 2.7%. United States Oil Fund USO was 0.8% higher, and the United States Natural Gas Fund UNG jumped 3.5%.

Gold was falling 0.8% and silver was about 1.1% lower; SPDR Gold Trust GLD declined 0.8% while iShares Silver Trust SLV shed 1.2%.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF XLK declined 0.6% and iShares Dow Jones US Technology ETF IYW was inactive. The iShares S&P North American Technology ETF IGM was flat.

Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor XSD was inactive while the Semiconductor Sector Index Fund SOXX shed 0.8%.

Apple AAPL has asked manufacturers to accelerate iPhone development as COVID-19 lockdowns in China are expected to disrupt the schedule of at least one of the company's new flagship iPhones this year, Nikkei Asia reported, citing anonymous sources. Apple shares fell about 1%.

Consumer

Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR XLP ticked almost 0.3% lower, while Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF VDC and iShares Dow Jones US Consumer Goods IYK were flat.

Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR XLY was down 0.7%; among retail funds, Market Vectors Retail ETF RTH and SPDR S&P Retail XRT were flat.

General Mills GIS was about 0.2% lower after it entered a definitive deal to sell its "Helper" main meals and "Suddenly Salad" side dishes businesses to Eagle Family Foods Group for about $610 million in cash.

Industrial

Select Sector SPDR-Industrial XLI fell 0.4%, while iShares US Industrials IYJ and the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund VIS were both flat.

REX American Resources REX was unchanged after reporting fiscal Q1 earnings of $0.87 per diluted share, down from $1.30 a year earlier. A single analyst polled by Capital IQ expected $0.82.