5 things to know before the stock market opens on Thursday, February 1st

Stocks are trying to recover from rough trading on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8%, its worst day since December. The S&P 500 fell 1.6% in its worst day since September. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.2%, its worst session since October. Still, all three major averages ended January in the black, with the Dow up 1.2% since the beginning of the year, the S&P up 1.6% and the Nasdaq up 1%. Futures tracking all three indexes rose in premarket trading Thursday morning, indicating a positive market opening. Follow us for live market updates.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the central bank likely won’t cut interest rates in March, disappointing the hopes of traders who had hoped the central bank would start lowering rates to stave off a possible recession. “I don’t think it’s likely that the committee will reach a level of confidence by the March meeting to identify March as that time, but we’ll have to wait and see,” Powell said. The Fed president said the central bank would not take further interest rate hikes off the table, but noted that economic growth is “solid” as the central bank sees inflation slowing. The next policy decision date is scheduled for March 20th, and calculations are leaning towards the Fed leaving policy unchanged at its next meeting.

It’s a great day for tech earnings. Apple, Amazon, and Meta all report after the market closes. The three quarterly results come after Microsoft and Google’s parent company Alphabet were each sold off earlier this week despite strong quarters. The conclusion seems to be that the results were good, but not good enough. The tech industry is not immune to the cost pressures and alarmist environment that are weighing on profits and stock prices. That dynamic may also be reflected in Thursday’s coverage.

A judge has dismissed a federal lawsuit brought by Disney against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as lacking legal standing. In the lawsuit, DeSantis and other defendants publicly criticize the state’s controversial law (dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by opponents) that restricts discussion of sex and gender in public schools. The company claims that it retaliated against the company in response to the incident. Disney said Wednesday that he plans to appeal the decision. The entertainment company will report fourth-quarter earnings next week.

The Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of American companies, announced that it will invest up to $3 billion in the PGA Tour, with an initial investment of $1.5 billion. The deal received unanimous support from player directors. The funds will reach professional golf organizations after negotiations with the Saudi Public Investment Fund are completed. The PGA Tour is at a crossroads in determining its future, with critics saying the deal with PIF could give the country, often the subject of human rights allegations, greater influence in the United States. are doing.

– CNBC’s Sarah Ming, Jeff Cox, Jesse Pound, Ashley Caputo, Ali Levy, Dan Mangan and Jessica Golden contributed to this report.

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