The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was up 0.3% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) was 0.4% higher in Wednesday's premarket activity as investors await a deluge of key economic data.

US stock futures were also higher, with S&P 500 Index futures up 0.2%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advancing 0.03%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.3% before the start of regular trading.

US mortgage applications edged up 0.2% in the week ended Nov. 21 as stronger demand for new home loans offset a drop in refinancing, Mortgage Bankers Association data showed Wednesday. This followed a 5.2% fall in the previous week.

Reports releasing at 8:30 am ET include the durable goods report, the GDP report, the international trade in goods bulletin, the weekly jobless claims report, and the retail and wholesale inventories reports.

The November Chicago PMI report will be released at 9:45 am ET, followed by the October new home sales bulletin and the personal income and outlays data at 10 am ET.

The weekly EIA petroleum status report posts at 10:30 am ET, followed by the Atlanta Fed Survey of Business Uncertainty for November report at 11 am ET.

The weekly EIA natural gas report is released at 12 pm, and the weekly Baker Hughes domestic oil-and-gas rig count posts at 1:00 PM ET.

The Beige Book, the Federal Reserve's compendium of business and economic reports from the 12 branches, posts at 2 pm ET.

In premarket activity, bitcoin was down by 1%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) was 1% lower, Ether ETF (EETH) retreated 1%, and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) was marginally lower by 0.02%.

Power Play:

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) was up 0.1%, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund (VDC) was flat. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF (IYK) was inactive, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY) gained 0.4%. The VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was inactive, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) advanced 0.1%.

Li Auto (LI) shares were down more than 2% pre-bell after the company reported a Q3 non-GAAP net loss and lower revenue.

Winners and Losers:

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI) advanced 0.1%, the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) gained 0.2%, and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) was inactive.

Deere (DE) stock was down more than 5% before the opening bell after the company posted lower fiscal Q4 earnings.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) advanced 0.1%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was up 0.2%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) was inactive.

Grupo Supervielle SA (SUPV) shares were down more than 8% pre-bell after BofA Securities downgraded the company's stock to neutral from buy.

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) advanced 0.04%. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund (VHT) was 0.4% lower, while the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) gained by 0.4%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) advanced marginally by 0.02%.

BeOne Medicine (ONC) stock was up more than 2% premarket after the company said the US Food and Drug Administration accepted and granted priority review to its sonrotoclax application to treat adults with relapsed mantle cell lymphoma after treatment with a Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) was up 0.3%, the iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) was 0.3% higher, and the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) advanced by 0.2%. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) gained 0.1%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rose by 0.3%.

Uber Technologies (UBER) shares were up more than 1% and WeRide (WRD) stock was 0.5% higher in recent premarket activity after the companies said Wednesday that they have launched level 4 fully driverless robotaxi commercial operations in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) was inactive, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was marginally down by 0.01%.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down by 0.2% at $57.83 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas was up 2.9% at $4.61 per 1 million British Thermal Units. The United States Oil Fund (USO) retreated by 0.2%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was nearly 3% higher.

Gold futures for February gained by 0.5% to reach $4,197.20 an ounce on the Comex, and silver futures were up by 1.9% at $52.60 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) advanced by 0.5%, and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) rose by 1.5%.