5 things to know before the stock market opens on Friday, October 4

Here are five important things investors need to know to start their trading day:

Stocks fell again on Thursday, with Dow Jones Industrial Average down 184.93 points, equivalent to 0.44% on the day. the S&P 500Meanwhile, it lost 0.17% and nearly 4 in every 5 S&P 500 members fell. the Nasdaq composite positive on the day, adding just 0.04%, thanks in part to a rebound from Nvidia. Shares of the AI ​​darling rose more than 3%. October is off to a shaky start, with all three major averages on track to post three-week winning streaks. According to Live market updates.

the The port strike has ended. A major union of U.S. dockworkers on the East and Gulf Coasts agreed to a temporary wage deal with the U.S. Maritime Union late Thursday, bringing tens of thousands of workers back to work. job. The International Association of Longshoremen and Longshoremen also agreed to extend the current contract until January 15 to give both sides time to complete new contract negotiations. The strike that began earlier this week has rocked ports from Maine to Texas and threatened supplies of fruit, cars and other goods. Under the tentative deal, ILU salaries would increase 61.5% over six years, sources told CNBC’s Lori Ann LaRocco, but key discussions on port automation are still being negotiated.

Wall Street is watching new jobs data from the Labor Department. The consensus estimate is Nonfarm payrolls grow According to Dow Jones, 150,000 in September compared to 142,000 the previous month with the unemployment rate steady at 4.2%. Wage forecasts are for a 0.3% monthly increase and a 3.8% increase over last year. If the predicted numbers are correct then will increase confidence from the Federal Reserve that further interest rate cuts would fall behind the curve and risk a recession. The September report is expected to be the last “clean” report before the November election, as the port attack and Hurricane Helene will likely skew October’s report.

Since Iran launched a ballistic missile attack against Israel on Tuesday, Speculation has increased that Israel could target the country’s oil industry in retaliation. Analysts told CNBC on Thursday that The oil market may be too complacent after the Iranian attack, partly because geopolitical risks have not resulted in a loss of oil supply since 2019. But Iran, one of OPEC’s largest producers, has compensated up to 4% of the global oil supply. US crude oil Price increased about 5% on Thursday, the third consecutive session of gains following the Iranian attack. Thursday’s increase may have been in response to President Joe Biden’s mixed comments on whether the US supported Israel’s attack on Iran’s oil facilities.

CVS To be Consider dissolving the companyBut that can be risky. It is facing high medical reimbursement pressure in its insurance and pharmacy units. Now, the company has advisors participate is reviewing its business strategy and is considering splitting its insurance and retail pharmaceutical units, CNBC reported. But CVS risks losing customers because it eliminates vertically integrated business segments — not to mention revenue. The pharmacy chain has spent tens of billions of dollars on acquisitions to become a one-stop shop for consumers, but it has struggled recently, cutting its full-year 2024 earnings forecast for three consecutive quarters. and has seen its shares fall more than 20% this year. .

– CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han, Alex Harring, Kif Leswing, Lori Ann LaRocco, Jeff Cox, Sam Meredith, Spencer Kimball, Natasha Turak and Annika Kim Constantino contributed to this report.