A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, January 24, 2020.
Lucas Jackson | Reuters
Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Strong start
Stock futures rose Friday after starting the new month with a nice little rally on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.47% during the first trading session of June, the S&P 500 rose 0.99%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.28%. Those latter two indexes notched their highest closing levels since August. Markets are set to add to those gains Friday: As of early morning futures tied to each of the major indexes were up about 0.5% across the board. Follow live market updates.
2. Avoiding default
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) fields a question from a reporter at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., May 2, 2023.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
The Senate late Thursday passed the bill to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a catastrophic U.S. default. It was surprisingly fast for the chamber, which had only taken up the House-approved bill earlier Thursday and had some notable dissenters to appease. Still, the passage came just days before a June 5 deadline by which Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen estimated the nation would be unable to pay its bills. “No one gets everything they want in a negotiation, but make no mistake: This bipartisan agreement is a big win for our economy and the American people,” President Joe Biden, who is scheduled to sign the bill Friday, said in a statement.
3. Jobs report
Construction workers on a job site on March 10, 2023 in Miami, Florida. A report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the US economy added 311,000 jobs in February. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.6% from 3.4%.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
Friday brings the monthly jobs report out of the Labor Department, and Wall Street is calling for a slowdown — again. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect job growth of 190,000. That would be slower than the 253,000 jobs added in April, below the year-to-date monthly average of 284,500 and the lowest monthly gain since December 2020. But the job market has been so far been resilient against a backdrop of rising interest rates, and job growth has topped consensus estimates 13 of 16 times since January 2022. The report is due to come out at 8:30 a.m. ET.
4. Walmart cuts waste
Walmart is swapping out plastic mailers for paper mailers that customers can recycle.
Walmart
Your Walmart delivery may soon look a little different. The big-box retailer is cutting waste in its packaging with plans to swap plastic mailers for recyclable paper ones; to introduce made-to-fit technology to match box size more closely with the items being shipped; and to allow curbside pickup customers to skip the plastic bags. “It’s about making sustainability the everyday choice for our customers,” said Jane Ewing, Walmart’s senior vice president of sustainability. “And it’s about making sure the path of least resistance is the most sustainable one.”
5. Inflation check
Sure, prices are high. But how high? Across the board? When will they come down? Are you cracking under the pricing pressure? CNBC dug into recent and persistent inflation, attempting to answer questions like who does inflation hit hardest, how do we measure it, and why is it so sticky? We know inflation has reshaped car buying for many Americans, forced consumers to reckon with this-or-that choices, and challenged companies that depend on discretionary spending. What we don’t know just yet, is where it all goes from here. Read more from CNBC on inflation, explained.
– CNBC’s Alex Harring, Yun Li, Samantha Subin, Christina Wilkie, Jeff Cox and Melissa Repko contributed to this report.
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