Active-volume exchange-traded funds in Wednesday's regular session:

SPDR S&P 500 (SPY): -0.4%

iShares S&P 500 (IVV): -0.4%

PowerShares QQQ (QQQQ): -0.1%

Select Financial Sector SPDRS (XLF): -0.9%

iShares Russell 2000 (IWM): -0.5%

iShares Russell 1000 Growth (IWF): +0.1%

iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM): +1.1%

United States Oil Fund (USO): -0.3%

The top ETF volume movers in pre-market action this morning:

SPY, +0.9%

GLD, +0.5%

QQQQ, +0.7%

IWM, +0.9%

FAZ, -3.6%

Winners and Losers

Major market ETFs, including the SPY, DIA, UYG and others, are firmer. Stocks look to start the day higher after four straight declines. Wall Street is looking ahead to Friday's employment report and the long weekend. The European Central Bank left its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 1% as expected today.

The PowerShares QQQ (QQQQ), which tracks the technology-studded Nasdaq Composite, is up 0.8% this morning. Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) is up 1.5%. iShares U.S. Technology (IYW) should see increased interest closer to the opening bell. European Union antitrust regulators launched an in-depth probe on Thursday into Oracle's (ORCL) $7 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems (JAVA) on concerns the deal could hurt competition in the database market, Reuters and other news outlets are reporting.

Internet HOLDRs (IIH) is flat. Google (GOOG) has been a modest extended-hours gainer after WSJ and Bloomerg report YouTube in talks with studios to stream movies.

Select Financial Sector SPDRS (XLF) is up 1.2%. The Direxion Financial Bull 3X fund (FAS) is up 3.6%; its bearish counterpart, FAZ, is down 3.7%. Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) are both posting around 8% gains this morning, rebounding partially from the sell-off on Wednesday that followed the Mortgage Bankers Association's call to split up the mortgage lenders into smaller, private companies. ING (ING) is higher after Reuters reports that DBS Group has made a bid to buy ING's Asian private banking unit.

SPDR Retail (XRT) is flat but should see increased interest closer to the bell. Retailers are reporting their August same-store sales, with most continuing to report weak late-summer results.

PowerShares Dynamic Building & Construction (PKB) is up 8.5%, SPDR S&P Homebuilders (XHB) is flat, iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction (ITB) is flat. Volatility is likely in the space. Hovnanian (HOV) is an extended-hours decliner after it reports Q3 revenue of $387.1 mln, down from $716.5 mln in the year ago quarter and just below the analyst mean of $392 mln on Thomson Reuters. The after-tax loss was $2.16 per share, narrower than the year ago loss of $2.67 per share. The Street view was a loss of $1.52 per share, but this may not be comparable. The number of net contracts for the third quarter of fiscal 2009, excluding unconsolidated joint ventures, declined 9% to 1,442 homes compared with the prior year's third quarter.

Commodities -

October crude is up $0.84 at $68.89 a barrel. The contract has been choppy since clearing $74 early last week, the highs of the year. Nat gas futures are down $0.05 at $2.665 per mln BTU. United States Oil Fund (USO) is up 1.2%. U.S. Natural Gas (UNG) is down 2.3%.

ETF Power Play -

December gold is up $8.70 at $987.20 an ounce as the dollar gains against most rivals this morning. Gold has jumped in back-to-back sessions and has not been above the $990 mark since February. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) is up 0.4%. The Market Vectors Gold Miners fund (GDX) is up 1.2%. iShares Silver Trust (SLV) is up 1.6%.