The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.2% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 0.1% higher in Thursday's premarket activity, ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech.

US stock futures were also higher, with S&P 500 Index futures up 0.1%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advancing 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.1% before the start of regular trading.

The national October producer price index bulletin and the weekly jobless claims bulletin will be released at 8:30 am ET.

Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin is slated to speak at 9 am ET.

The weekly EIA natural gas report posts at 10:30 am ET, and then the weekly EIA petroleum status report at 11 am ET.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is slated to speak at the Dallas Regional Chamber at 3 pm ET. New York Fed President John Williams will speak at 4:45 pm ET.

In premarket activity, bitcoin was up by 1.9% and the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 2% higher.

Power Play:

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was inactive, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) was up 0.6%. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was inactive, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) was marginally higher by 0.03%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) were inactive.

ZEEKR Intelligent Technology Holding (ZK) shares were down more than 8% pre-bell after the company reported a Q3 non-GAAP net loss late Wednesday. ZEEKR said Thursday it has entered strategic deals with Geely entities to acquire a 50% stake in Chinese-Swedish EV maker Lynk for about 9 billion renminbi ($1.24 billion).

Winners and Losers:

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) advanced 0.4%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 0.9%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was 1% lower.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) shares were up 3.7% pre-bell Thursday after the company reported higher fiscal H1 earnings.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) was up marginally by 0.01%, and the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was inactive, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was up 0.2%. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) was inactive, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rose by 1%.

ASML (ASML) shares were up 3.4% in recent Thursday premarket activity after the company said Thursday it continues to expect sales in 2030 to range from 44 billion euros ($46.23 billion) to 60 billion euros, with a gross margin of about 56% to 60%.

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) advanced 0.1%. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) was up 0.5% while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) was inactive. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was flat.

BeiGene (BGNE) stock was down 14% premarket after the company said it plans to change its name to BeOne Medicines.

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) was flat while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) were inactive.

EHang (EH) stock was down 1.3% before the opening bell after the company said that it has raised $22 million from Zhuhai Enpower Electric and an unidentified UAE-based institutional investor in a private investment in public equity, or PIPE transaction.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was up 0.5%, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was up by 0.5%.

Ovintiv (OVV) stock was down 1.1% before Thursday's opening bell after the company said that it agreed to acquire certain assets in Alberta Montney from Paramount Resources in an all-cash transaction of $2.38 billion.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil gained 0.3% to reach $68.62 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas declined by 1.2% to $2.95 per 1 million British Thermal Units. United States Oil Fund (USO) advanced by 1.1%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was down by 2%.

Gold futures for December were down 1.1% at $2,558.30 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures fell 2% to $30.07 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) declined by 0.8%, and iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was nearly 1% lower.