5 things to know before the stock market opens on Friday, May 31

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

Stocks fell Thursday as Sales force 20% sink. Cloud software providers already exist awful day since 2004 after the company posted weaker-than-expected first-quarter financial results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled down by Salesforce and slid 330.06 points, or 0.86%. The S&P 500 lost 0.6%, while Nasdaq composite had its worst day, falling 1.08% with weakness among tech names. AI honey Nvidia also fell more than 3%, its first decline since last week’s huge earnings report, and Microsoft decreased more than 3%. According to Live market updates.

Former president Donald Trump used to be was convicted in a New York court on Thursday on all 34 counts of falsifying business records. The charges relate to hush money payments his then-personal lawyer Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Trump is the first former US president to become guilty of any crime. His sentencing is set for July 11, four days before the start of the Republican National Convention, where Trump will be officially confirmed as the Republican Party’s presidential nominee. Trump is free without bail and can continue campaigning, but he faces a possible maximum sentence of four years in prison on each count, although a judge is not required to sentenced him to prison. ONE Appeals are all but inevitableand that process can go on for months, if not years.

Investors are hoping for Friday personal consumption expenses The report – expected to drop at 8:30 a.m. ET – will show more progress on inflation. PCE is the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation because it takes into account changes in consumer behavior, such as when shoppers decide to choose a cheaper option over a more expensive one. According to Dow Jones estimates, inflation in April is expected to be at an annual rate of 2.7% both overall and in the “core” index. The core reading does not include food and energy costs. If that forecast comes true, it would represent a slight decline in the core measure and little change to the overall index.

Retailers had a great Thursday with surprising earnings reports and significant stock moves. Kohl’s share more than 20% off a day after the company reported a surprise loss per share and came in well below Wall Street’s expectations of a slight profit. But other retailers performed better. Foot locker saw its shares rise 15%, a telling sign come back is starting to pay off. And shares of Best buy increased by 13% after the company missed quarterly sales expectations but beat earnings per share and reiterated its full-year guidance. Distance also saw big moves in stocks during the afternoon earnings report. Its shares rose more than 20% in premarket trading after the retailer blowing past earnings estimates out of the water and beat on revenue.

Consumers and businesses have shifted Be cautious in spending for everything from hard goods to software, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said Thursday at a financial conference in New York. Moynihan said there is still some growth to come, as consumer spending through card payments, checks and ATM withdrawals has grown about 3.5% this year to about $4 trillion. Still, he noted, that’s a significant drop from the nearly 10% growth rate seen in May 2023. “We have to keep consumers in the game in the U.S. economy, because [they’re] that’s a big part of it,” said Moynihan, who runs the second-largest U.S. bank by assets. “They’re becoming a little more fragile and that’s because of everything that’s going on around Surname.”

– CNBC’s Alex Harring, Dan Mangan, Kevin Breuninger, Brian Schwartz, Jeff Cox, Gabrielle Fonrouge, Melissa Repko, Sean Conlon and Hugh Son contributed to this report.

— Track broader market action like an expert on CNBC professional.