5 things to know before the stock market opens on Friday, April 1

Here are the most important news, trends and analysis investors need to start their trading day:

US stock futures started the second quarter higher on Friday ahead of the government’s March jobs report. Wall Street on Thursday ended its worst quarter since the first three months of 2020, including Covid pandemic the lowest level at the end of March of that year. The Dow Jones Industrial Averagethe S&P 500 and Nasdaq all fell about 1.5% on Thursday. For Q1, Dow and S&P 500 closed down 4.57% and 4.95%, respectively. Nasdaq lost 9.1%. The start of a rate hike cycle from the Fed, high inflation and Russia Invades Ukraine have all contributed to the share fight so far this year.

Treasury spread may be affected according to the work report on Friday, a day later 2 years profit Summary Rise above the 10 years profit for the first time since 2019, a reversal that usually precedes recessions. Several data providers showed 2-year 10-year spreads inverted in seconds on Tuesday, but CNBC data did not confirm that at the time. A negative number on the chart means that the two yields are not inverting at this point.

In another major yield spread, the first Monday inversion since 2006, 5 years and 30 years Flip Friday. The higher short-term yields than the longer-terms signaled the market’s concern that the Fed could raise rates too quickly. Yields spread over a much shorter period – 3 months Treasury and 2 years – have been identified as positive.

A strong jobs report on Friday could give the Fed more confidence to maintain its aggressive rate hike plan this year aimed at fighting inflation without slowing the economy too much. Economists predict 490,000 jobs will be added in March. That number is still strong, but will be much lower than the 678,000 nonfarm payrolls generated in February. The country’s unemployment rate is expected to ease slightly to 3.7% in March from 3.8% in February.

inside latest developments in Russia’s war against Ukraine:

• Russian troops left the heavily contaminated Chornobyl nuclear site early Friday after handing control over to the Ukrainians.
• If confirmed, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region has accused Ukraine of sending helicopters across the border on Friday morning and attacking an oil depot.
• Ukraine has also continued to carry out successful but limited counterattacks within its borders. Western officials say there are growing signs that Russia is using negotiations on de-escalation in Ukraine as a cover to regroup. Ukrainian and Russian negotiators planned to resume video talks on Friday.

Shares of GameStop 15% increase in the money market on Friday, the next morning when the video game retailer announced the plan to split stocks. GameStop said it will seek approval at the next shareholder meeting to increase the number of Class A common shares from 300 million to 1 billion to conduct a partial split in the form of dividends. by shares.

GameStop slashed prices in March, up 35% late Thursday, as retail investors enthusiastically backed their favorite meme. Shares rallied early last month when President Ryan Cohen, who is making the transition to a digital-first company, bought 100,000 more shares, bringing active investor ownership to 11. 9%.

– CNBC reporters Sarah Min, Jesse Pound, Hannah Miao and Yun Li as well as The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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