5 things to know before the stock market opens Thursday

Here are the most important news investors need to start their trading day:

Wednesday was a bad day for stocks. The Dow had its worst day since mid-December, while the Nasdaq snapped its seven-day winning streak. Bank stocks weighed on the market due to weak economic data: holiday retail sales disappointed, and the producer price index, a measure of wholesale inflation, was softer than expected. On Thursday, investors will listen to Fed speakers, including Vice Chair Lael Brainard, and analyze the latest wave of big earnings calls, which included Procter & Gamble (before the bell) and netflix (after shutdown). Read Live Market Updates Here,

Tech companies have cut thousands of jobs in the last one year. Amazon While around 18,000 employees are in the process of being laid off. Microsoft said this week it would cut about 10,000 positions. google guardian Alphabet and owner of facebook meta Employees have also been laid off. but apple Breaking the trend. Unlike others in Silicon Valley, the iPhone maker did not ramp up hiring during the pandemic and has so far refrained from announcing major layoffs. CNBC’s Kif Lessing and Gabriel Cortes break down the phenomenon in a series of charts Here,

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He meet in Zurich For high level economic talks. “During frank, substantive and constructive talks, they exchanged views on macroeconomic and financial developments,” a Treasury Department readout said. The Chinese government’s summary of the meeting offered a more specific point, with Yellen and Liu discussing US tech policy. The Biden administration has banned US businesses from working with Chinese entities on high-end semiconductors, while it has also continued to impose Trump-era tariffs on China. The Chinese government “hopes the US side will pay attention to the impact of the policies on both sides,” the Chinese readout said.

Amazon isn’t just cutting jobs these days. The e-retail and cloud computing giant said it would close its charity donation program, AmazonSmile, next month as part of its wider plan to reduce costs. Additionally, Amazon said the program, which donated a percentage of eligible purchases to a buyer’s favorite charity, proved to be a letdown, with the average donation amount being $230. Amazon said, “After nearly a decade, the program has not evolved to produce the impact we originally hoped.” “With so many deserving organizations – more than 1 million globally – our ability to make an impact was often too thinly spread.”

rental car giants haters Has become one of the key players pushing the expansion of electric vehicle usage. The company announced on Thursday a comprehensive partnership with Denver It will add nearly 5,000 EVs to its fleet in the city, while it will also install EV charging stations at the airport and around Denver, with an emphasis on under-served communities. “I’ve always been concerned about equity and how communities have been left behind,” Denver Mayor Michael Hancock told CNBC. “Electrification, I think, is a step towards sustainability that is going to go fast.” Hertz is hoping to expand the program to other cities as well.

— CNBC’s Carmen Renicke, Kiff Living, Gabriel Cortes, Evelyn Cheng, Annie Palmer and John Rosevear contributed to this report.

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