The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.1% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 0.9% lower in Thursday's premarket activity as investors expect pressure on AI infrastructure amid US midterm election results.

US stock futures were mixed, with S&P 500 Index futures up 0.03%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gaining 0.5%, and Nasdaq futures retreating 0.9% before the start of regular trading.

US layoff plans edged up slightly in October, while hiring plans rose, mostly due to an announcement from Amazon (AMZN) that they intend to hire 300,000 seasonal workers, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported earlier Thursday.

Nonfarm productivity rose by 3.6% in Q3 after a revised 2.1% advance in Q2, above expectations for a 2.7% rise in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:40 am ET, data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.

US initial jobless claims declined to a level of 189,000 in the week ended Oct. 31 from an upwardly revised 195,000 level in the previous week, compared with expectations for an increase to 196,000 in a survey of analysts compiled by Bloomberg and the lowest level since the week ended July 18.

Weekly natural gas stocks are due to be released at 10:30 am ET.

Cleveland Federal Reserve President Beth Hammack, Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin, and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan speak on Thursday.

In premarket activity, bitcoin was down by 0.7%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 0.8% lower, Ether ETF (EETH) retreated 1.7%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) fell 1.2%.

Power Play:

Financial

The State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) advanced 1.2%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 4.1%, while its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), was 3.5% lower.

Sezzle (SEZL) shares were up 30% after the company posted higher-than-expected Q3 adjusted earnings and revenue.

Winners and Losers:

Technology

The State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) retreated 1.8%, the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 0.8% lower, and the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) was down 1.5%. Among semiconductor ETFs, the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) fell 2.7%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) was 3.8% down.

Caris Life Sciences (CAI) shares were down more than 15% in premarket activity after the company reported lower Q3 earnings.

Industrial

The State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI) retreated 0.1%, while the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) were inactive.

Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX) shares were down more than 2%, extending the 3.8% loss from the prior session. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Goldman Sachs Group (GS) and Apollo Global Management (APO) have begun approaching investors to syndicate portions of a roughly $40 billion financing package for SpaceX's Nvidia GPU purchases.

Consumer

The State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) was up 1.2%, the Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Fund ETF Shares (VDC) was 1.2% higher, and the iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was down 0.9%. The State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) lost 0.8%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was inactive, while the State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) gained 0.8%.

Amazon (AMZN) shares were up more than 2% pre-bell and Uber (UBER) was 3% higher after the companies said they have partnered to offer Prime members free delivery on Uber Eats restaurant orders of $25 or more through Amazon's website and app.

Healthcare

The State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) advanced 1%, the Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) was up 1.1%, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) gained 1.5%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was 0.8% higher.

Eli Lilly (LLY) stock was up more than 1% premarket after the company said it plans to present new clinical trial data on its investigational obesity drug retatrutide and research on combining Taltz and Zepbound.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) fell 1.3%, while the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) was up by 1.4%.

ConocoPhillips (COP) stock was up more than 1% before market open after the company reported higher Q3 adjusted earnings and revenue.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil gained 1.3% to reach $89.28 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas was down 1% at $2.93 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) increased by 1.4%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 0.2% higher.

Gold futures for November rose 1.5% to $4,133.90 an ounce on the Comex. Silver futures advanced 0.9% to $52.75 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) was up 1.3%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was 0.6% higher.