Sector Update: Health Care Stocks Mixed Premarket Tuesday

Health care stocks were mixed pre-bell Tuesday as the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) was up 0.1% and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) was 0.3% lower recently.

Clearmind Medicine shares surged past 85% after the company said it received Institutional Review Board approval from Yale University for the phase 1/2a clinical trial of CMND-100 in alcohol use disorder.

The broad market exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust was up 0.1% and the actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust advanced 0.2% in Tuesday's premarket activity, as traders tread cautiously ahead of a day shortened by an early market close.

US stock futures were mixed, with S&P 500 Index futures advancing 0.1%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipping 0.03%, and Nasdaq futures gaining 0.21% before the start of regular trading.

The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index for December will be released at 10 am ET.

The November Money Supply report is slated to be released at 1 pm ET.

In premarket action, bitcoin was up by 1.2% and the cryptocurrency fund ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF was 1.2% higher.

Power Play:

Health Care

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund advanced 0.1%. The Vanguard Health Care Index Fund was flat while the iShares US Healthcare ETF was inactive. The iShares Biotechnology ETF was inactive.

NeueHealth stock was up more than 62% premarket after the company said late Monday that it agreed to be acquired and taken private by an affiliate of New Enterprise Associates for an enterprise value of about $1.3 billion.

Winners and Losers:

Industrial

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

FREYR Battery stock was up 5% before the opening bell after the company said it closed the acquisition of Trina Solar's 5 GW solar module manufacturing facility in Wilmer, Texas.

Consumer

The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund was flat, while the Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund was inactive. The iShares US Consumer Staples ETF was inactive, and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund lost 0.1%. The VanEck Retail ETF was inactive, while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF was flat.

MINISO Group Holding shares were up 3.9% pre-bell after the company said it has recently opened its largest store in Spain, a 1,100-square-meter Madrid retail venue that is also the site of the company's first MINISO Land store in Europe.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund advanced 0.04%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares was flat, while its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares was also flat.

HIVE Digital Technologies shares were up 2.7% pre-bell Tuesday after the company said it had made a $30 million investment to acquire and deploy an additional cluster of NVIDIA H100 GPUs and receive the newest NVIDIA H200 GPUs.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund , the iShares US Technology ETF , and the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF were flat. Among semiconductor ETFs, SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF was inactive, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF rose by 0.6%.

GDS Holdings shares were down 0.1% in recent Tuesday premarket activity after Bloomberg reported that the company is exploring an initial public offering for a real estate investment trust consisting of its data center assets in China.

Energy

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

Golar LNG stock was down 3.2% before Tuesday's opening bell after the company said it acquired all outstanding minority interests in the FLNG Hilli from Seatrium and Black & Veatch for a total of $90.2 million, taking full ownership of the liquefied natural gas vessel.

Commodities

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil advanced 0.5% to $69.56 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas gained 2.4% at $3.74 per 1 million British Thermal Units. United States Oil Fund was up 0.4%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund rose by 1.9%.

Gold futures for February gained marginally by 0.02% at $2,628.70 an ounce on the Comex, while silver futures retreated 0.2% to $30.12 an ounce. SPDR Gold Shares were flat, while the iShares Silver Trust was 0.4% lower.

By Dean Seal

Shares of Clearmind Medicine more than doubled after the Institutional Review Board approved a clinical trial of its flagship compound as a treatment for alcohol use disorder.

The stock was changing hands at $2.87 in premarket trading. Shares had fallen 57% year-to-date to $1.22 when the market closed Monday.

The clinical-stage psychedelic pharmaceutical company said early Tuesday that the Institutional Review Board, which reviews and monitors biomedical research involving human subjects, has granted approval for a Phase I/IIa clinical trial of CMND-100.

The trial will be led by Dr. Anahita Bassir Nia at Yale School of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry. It will assess CMND-100's ability to reduce alcohol cravings and consumption among individuals with moderate to severe alcohol use disorder.

"Receiving the IRB approval from Yale University, takes us one step closer to commencing our innovation clinical trial with our proprietary CMND-100," Chief Executive Adi Zuloff-Shani said.

Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com

US stock futures are treading water in Tuesday's premarket session ahead of a shortened trading day before the markets close for Christmas on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were off 0.03%, S&P 500 futures were up 0.11%, and Nasdaq futures were rising 0.2%.

Oil prices were moving higher, with front-month global benchmarks Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate crude rising 0.64% and 0.71% respectively.

In equities, shares of Avinger soared 202% in Tuesday's premarket session, adding to Monday's 33% gain. Baosheng Media Group's stock shot up 112%, adding to a 9.5% gain the previous session. And Clearmind Medicine shares surged 105% after the pharmaceutical company said it has received Institutional Review Board approval from Yale University for a phase 1/2a clinical trial of CMND-100 in alcohol use disorder.

On the losing side, shares of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock tumbled 22%, adding to a 1.5% loss the previous session. Alumis shares shed 8%, on top of a 5% loss the previous session.

Tivic Health Systems shares surged 76% in recent Tuesday premarket activity, a day after its Chief Executive Jennifer Ernst said in a letter to shareholders that the company is mulling new opportunities to raise cash flow in 2025 and planning disease-specific clinical trials for obtaining regulatory nods.

NeueHealth stock soared 62%, a day after it said it agreed to be acquired and taken private by an affiliate of New Enterprise Associates for an enterprise value of about $1.3 billion.

SEALSQ shares rose 28% after saying overnight it unveiled its QUASARS project in the field of post-quantum cryptography.

SES AI stock was up 19%, extending Monday's rally.