ETF Preview: ETFs, Futures Modestly Higher as Wall Street Mulls Economic Data

ETF Preview: ETFs, Futures Modestly Higher as Wall Street Mulls Economic Data.

Active broad-market exchange-traded funds in Thursday's pre-market session:

SPDR S&P 500 ( SPY ): +0.2%

iShares MSCI Emerging Index Fund ( EEM ): +1.2%

iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN ( VXX ): -2.7%

SPDR Select Sector Fund - Financial ( XLF ): +0.3%

ProShares Trust Ultra VIX Short Term Futures ETF ( UVXY ): -0.8%

Broad-Market Indicators

Most broad-market exchange-traded funds, including SPY, IWM, IVV and others, were inching higher. Actively traded PowerShares QQQ (QQQ) was up 0.2%.

U.S. stock futures were in positive territory, tracking crude oil prices , but were off pre-market highs as investors digested a slew of economic data.

Weekly jobless claims rose 1,000 to 260,000 - but still remained near the lowest level in decades. Forecasts had been for a 265,000. Continuing jobless claims, meanwhile, rose by 1,000 to 2.14 million in the week.

U.S. wholesale prices were flat in August primarily due to declines in the cost of food and gasoline. Expectations were for a 0.1% increase in the producer price index.

U.S. retail sales, meanwhile, fell 0.3% last month - the first decline in five months - versus forecasts for a 0.1% decline.

The government also reported that the U.S. current account deficit fell 9.1% in Q2 to $119.9 billion. The current account deficit was 2.6% of GDP in Q2.

Finally, the Empire State manufacturing index increased up to negative 2 in September from negative 4.2 in August, while the Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing index fell to a reading of 12.8 in September, below the reading of 2 in August.

Power Play: Health Care

Health Care SPDR (XLV), Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT) and iShares Dow Jones US Healthcare (IYH) were flat. Biotechnology fund iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (IBB) was flat.

AcelRx Pharmaceuticals (ACRX) was up 14% after the company said that an open-label phase 3 trial of ARX-04 demonstrated that the product candidate was well tolerated in the management of moderate-to-severe acute pain in post-operative study patients and reduced pain intensity. The primary and secondary efficacy endpoints showed a reduction in pain intensity starting at 30 minutes after the first dose of ARX-04, followed by 27%, 49%, and 57% reductions in mean pain intensity from a baseline mean pain score of 6.2 at 1 hour, 2 hours, and 12 hours, respectively. Results of the study showed that approximately two in three patients had no adverse events during the study regardless of age and organ function, with the most common adverse events were nausea and headache.

Winners and Losers

Financial

Select Financial Sector SPDRs ( XLF ) was up 0.3%. Daily Financial Bull 3X shares (FAS) was up 0.8% and its bearish counterpart, FAZ was down 0.03% in the pre-market session.

BB&T Corp. (BBT) said its Branch Banking and Trust subsidiary also known as Branch Bank sealed an agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for an early termination of loss share agreements. The loss share agreements were entered into during 2009 in relation to the acquisition of certain assets and liabilities of Colonial Bank in an FDIC-assisted transaction, the bank holding firm said. Under the terms of the agreement, BB&T said Branch Bank will make a cash payment of $230 million and the FDIC will no longer share in future benefits related to these assets. The company said the early termination eliminates all assets and liabilities tied with the indemnification by the FDIC, which was equal to a net liability of $210 million at the end of June. BB&T said it will recognize a pre-tax expense of $20 million this quarter, adding it expects a positive impact to future earnings related to the elimination of FDIC amortization expense that amounted to $124 million for a six-month period ended June 30.

Technology

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 inactive. SPDR S&P International Technology Sector ETF (IPK) was also flat.

Semiconductor ETFs SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD) and Semiconductor Sector Index Fund (SOXX) were flat in pre-market trading .

Apple (AAPL) was up 1.8% as Reuters cited the company as saying it has sold out initial quantities of the iPhone 7 Plus while the smaller iPhone 7 has also sold out in the new jet black color.

Energy

Dow Jones U.S. Energy Fund (IYE) was flat while Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) was up 0.7%.

Anadarko Petroleum (APC) was up 0.2% after its acquisition of deepwater assets in the Gulf of Mexico from Freeport McMoRan, announced earlier this week, was viewed as a positive for the company by investors surveyed by BMO Capital Markets. The deal "was widely viewed as a compelling deal that expanded its strategic (Gulf of Mexico) footprint at an attractive valuation," BMO said in a report on Thursday. About 80% of investors said the deal was favorable for Anadarko due to valuation multiples, the fact that Freeport was "motivated," balance sheet improvements, acceleration in onshore production and potential increases in the Lucius oil field, the bank said.

Commodities

Crude was up 0.3% while natural gas futures were down 0.2%. United States Oil Fund (USO) was up 0.3% and United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was down 0.2%.

Gold was down 0.1% and 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), iShares Dow Jones US Consumer Goods (IYK) and Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) were inactive.

Consumer Discretionary SPDR (XLY) and retail funds SPDR S&P Retail (XRT), PowerShares Dynamic Retail (PMR) and Market Vectors Retail ETF (RTH) were flat.

Ford Motor (F) was up 0.3% even as local Indonesian daily BeritaSatu reported the company will be probed by Indonesia's tax office over claims it avoided paying an appropriate luxury goods sales tax for its Everest model that was sold in the country. The report said Ford modified seven-seater Everest vehicles made at its Thailand factory into 10-seaters before importing the models to Indonesia, and then changed them back into a seven-seater configuration to avoid paying a higher luxury goods sales tax of 40%. According to the report, Indonesia imposes a 40% luxury goods sales tax on imported seven-seater models but only a 10% tax on imported 10-seater models.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.