Active broad-market exchange-traded funds ahead of Tuesday's regular session:
SPDR S&P 500 ( SPY ): +0.1%
iShares MSCI Emerging Index Fund ( EEM ): -0.8%
SPDR Select Sector Fund - Financial ( XLF ): -0.04%
VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF ( GDX ): -0.4%
iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN ( VXX ): -0.4%
Broad Market Indicators
Broad-market exchange-traded funds, including SPY, IWM and IVV edged higher. Actively traded PowerShares QQQ (QQQ) was up 0.03%.
US stock futures were higher ahead of the opening bell, as traders keep a close eye on the Federal Open Market Committee as it starts its two-day policy meeting.
The Fed is widely expected to announce its third and final interest-rate rise of 2017 on Wednesday, when the meeting concludes.
In economic data news, the National Federation of Independent Business reported that its index of small-business optimism rose 3.7 points to 107.5 in November, topping the consensus for an increase to 104.4.
And the US producer price index jumped 0.4% in November, up 3.1% over the past 12 months.
Power Play: Health Care
Health care funds Health Care SPDR (XLV), Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT) and iShares Dow Jones US Healthcare (IYH), were quiet. Biotechnology fund iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (IBB) was flat.
Aduro Biotech (ADRO) were down 7% when pre-market trading resumed following a trading halt after it said it has decided to discontinue advancement of CRS-207 and will wind down each of its trials in mesothelioma, ovarian and gastric cancer. "While we are disappointed with the results for CRS-207, our clinical development program was designed to quickly generate data that could inform timely decision-making and allow us to prioritize our portfolio accordingly," CEO Stephen Isaacs said. "We will shift our focus and investment toward our STING agonist program, B-select antibodies and personalized neoantigen approach with pLADD." Isaacs said that as a result of the decision, it expects current cash balance to be sufficient to fund planned activities for the next three years through 2020.
Winners and Losers
Financial
Select Financial Sector SPDRs ( XLF ) was down 0.04%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X shares (FAS) and its bearish counterpart, FAZ were both inactive in pre-market trade.
Investors Real Estate Trust (IRET) reported for the quarter ended Oct. 31, funds from operations were $0.07 per share, down from $0.12 per share a year earlier and below four analysts' mean estimate according to Capital IQ of $0.09 per share. However, core funds from operations per share came in at $0.10, surpassing the one analyst estimate available for comparison: $0.09. Revenue totaled $53.9 million, up from $50.6 million a year earlier and above three analysts' mean estimate of $53.7 million.
Technology
Tech funds Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), iShares Dow Jones US Technology ETF (IYW), iShares S&P North American Technology ETF (IGM) and iShares S&P North American Technology-Software Index (IGV) were flat.
Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD) and Semiconductor Sector Index Fund (SOXX) were both inactive.
Amazon (AMZN) was down 0.1% after it said it has entered a strategy technology partnership with Ningxia Western Cloud Data Technology and agreed to launch AWS China (Ningxia) Region, operated by Ningxia Western. AWS offers a full range of training and certification programs to help Chinese professionals advance their technical skills in the latest cloud technologies and best practices. It now provides 46 availability zones across 17 technology infrastructure regions globally, with announced plans for another 15 availability zones across five AWS Regions in Bahrain, France, Hong Kong SAR, Sweden, and the US.
Energy
Dow Jones US Energy Fund (IYE) was inactive and Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) was up 0.3%.
Whiting Petroleum (WLL) rose 1.1% after it said it started an offering to eligible purchasers of $750 million of senior notes due 2026. The company said that net proceeds, together with borrowings under a credit agreement, will be used to redeem all of the company's 5.000% senior notes due 2019 and pay related fees and expenses such as the redemption premium on the notes.
Commodities
Crude was up 0.8%. United States Oil Fund (USO) was up 0.8%. Natural gas was down 0.1% while United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was up 1.1%
Gold was down 0.1%. SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) was down 0.01%. Silver was up 0.1%, while iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was up 0.3%.
Consumer
Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP), Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) and iShares Dow Jones US Consumer Goods (IYK) were inactive.
Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) rose 0.3% and retail funds SPDR S&P Retail (XRT), PowerShares Dynamic Retail (PMR) and Market Vectors Retail ETF (RTH) were flat.
Comcast (CMCSA) was up 1.7% after reports said the company has dropped out of the running for entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox (FOXA, FOX). Comcast reportedly said it never received the level of engagement necessary to make a definitive offer. However, Disney (DIS) reportedly is close to a deal for the assets, and a deal could be announced this week, according to an earlier report from Bloomberg. Verizon (VZ) was said last week also to be interested.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
