From Pills To Wafers: Laser Photonics Unveils R&D Initiative For Anti-Counterfeiting And High-Tech Manufacturing

The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust was up 0.3% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust advanced 0.4% in Friday's premarket activity as investors look forward to the US farm prices report for October.

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

The farm prices report for October is due at 3 pm ET.

In premarket activity, bitcoin was up 2.7% and the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF was 0.9% higher.

Power Play:

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund was marginally up by 0.04%. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund was slightly down by 0.01% while the iShares US Healthcare ETF gained 2.3%. The iShares Biotechnology ETF was 0.6% higher.

Applied Therapeutics shares tumbled 73% before Friday's opening bell after it said late Wednesday that the US Food and Drug Administration issued a complete response letter indicating the health regulator's decision not to approve the new drug application for govorestat to treat classic galactosemia due to "deficiencies in the clinical application."

Winners and Losers:

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund advanced 0.4%, and the iShares US Technology ETF was 0.2% lower, while the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF was inactive. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF was inactive, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF rose by 1%.

ParaZero Technologies shares soared 58% before Friday's opening bell after saying its SafeAir M-300 Pro and SafeAir M-350 Pro parachute safety kits received approval from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund was up 0.01% and the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund was 1% higher. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF was inactive, while the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund gained 0.6%. The VanEck Retail ETF advanced 3%, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF was inactive.

Jeffs' Brands shares rose 9% before Friday's opening bell after it said that Wellution, a wellness brand under its 49%-owned subsidiary SciSparc Nutraceuticals, received trademark registration for its non-medicated skincare and hair care products.

Industrial

Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund , the Vanguard Industrials Index Fund and the iShares US Industrials ETF (IYJ) were flat.

Laser Photonics stock rose 7% before Friday's bell after it said it has rolled out a research and development initiative for industrial laser solutions for pharmaceutical tablet drilling, wafer scribing, and semiconductor marking.

Energy

The iShares US Energy ETF was inactive, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund was up by 0.2%.

GeoPark shares were up 3.1% before the opening bell on Friday after saying it agreed to acquire Repsol Exploration's upstream oil and gas assets in Colombia for about $530 million.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund advanced 0.5%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares was up 1.3%, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares was 1.1% lower.

Citigroup stock was marginally up by 0.5% pre-bell Friday after The Wall Street Journal reported that the bank intends to complete next week the separation of Mexican consumer bank Banamex's systems from its other operations in Mexico.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil slipped 0.4% to $68.46 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas was 2.8% higher at $3.30 per 1 million British Thermal Units. United States Oil Fund fell 0.4%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund rose 3.6%.

Gold futures for February were up 0.8% at $2,684.90 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures gained 2.1% to reach $31.21 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares advanced 1%, while the iShares Silver Trust was 2.1% higher.