5 things to know before the stock market opens on Thursday

Happy Thursday. The NFL is going Down Under. The San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams will face off tonight in Melbourne in the league’s first regular season game in Australia.

Stock futures are falling this morning. All three major stock averages ended Wednesday trading lower.

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

as brent crude oil futures Yesterday, President Donald Trump told reporters that high oil and gas prices will not come down until after the November midterm elections. He also predicted that the Iran war would end “right after the election.”

Here’s what you need to know:

Brent futures topped $101 a barrel on Wednesday, closing at their highest since May, amid growing concerns that renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran could further disrupt oil supplies.US West Texas Intermediate Futures This morning, the price per barrel exceeded $100, and the stock futures market plummeted. Asked yesterday how he would explain to the American people the persistently high energy prices, President Trump said: “I think it’s very easy to explain to the United States, just say, “Are we going to give Iran a nuclear weapon?”” And the answer is no. “The president threatened Tehran in his speech to the Republican midterm convention last night, warning Iran not to “coddle” it, referring to its activities at Pickaxe Mountain, Iran’s alleged nuclear facility. Follow us here for live market updates.

apple Yesterday, we officially entered the foldable smartphone race.

The company’s new CEO John Tarnas announced the iPhone Duo at the company’s annual new product launch event in Cupertino, California. The passport-sized device opens to a 7.6-inch display and starts at $1,999, below Wall Street expectations. Sales will start from October 23rd.

But that wasn’t Apple’s only announcement. The tech giant showed off its new AI-powered Siri, the A20 Pro chip, and an Apple Watch feature that lets you listen to, summarize, and recall parts of a conversation. The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max will also increase in price by $100 compared to last year’s models as the company battles rising component costs. Check out everything Apple announced here.

The Treasury Department announced yesterday that it would buy back up to $6 billion in government bonds, three times the normal amount, in a bid to stabilize the bond market. The total project cost will be at least $4 billion.

The move comes after a ferocious rise in Treasury yields, which have recently hit their highest since pre-2008. But Wednesday’s announcement from the Treasury appears to have done little to calm markets. 10 year government bond yield Following this news, the yield exceeded 4.8%, the highest level since November 2023.

Hours later, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoke at the Republican midterm convention in Texas, an unusual political move for a sitting Treasury secretary. As CNBC’s Matt Peterson writes, Bessent’s partisan stance could call into question his credibility, which analysts say is critical to Treasury’s bond market operations.

shares of Macy’s Sales fell 5% this morning despite a strong report from the retailer, which reported second-quarter comparable overall sales growth of 2.7%. The company also raised its full-year guidance for both net sales and comparable sales, as well as its full-year earnings per share outlook.

Macy’s said store redesigns helped boost its results in the period. The company also reported receiving $116 million in tariff refunds, of which $96 million will be invested in customer experience and business restructuring efforts.

“I think Macy’s is a different company now,” CEO Tony Spring told CNBC. As CNBC’s Raya Neelakandan points out, the retailer is nearing the end of a three-year turnaround plan as it aims to return to growth in a challenging environment for department stores.

Hollywood just had its biggest summer ever, at least in terms of money. Hits such as “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “The Odyssey” helped the film set a record $4.76 billion in domestic box office revenue from May 1 to Labor Day.

But this record obscures how much the movie business has changed. Compared to pre-pandemic times, the number of wide shows being released and the number of screens are decreasing, and the number of movie audiences is also decreasing. The price of movie tickets has increased. The average standard ticket price is currently around $12.75, compared to $9.16 in 2019, but prices for premium screenings can be significantly higher.

Read the full story from CNBC’s Sarah Witten on what a record-setting summer really taught us about moviegoing.

In his midterm convention speech last night, President Trump made a new promise to provide $5,000 per adult American citizen if Republicans retain control of both houses of Congress in November. He did not explain how the proposal, which is likely to face legal challenges, would be financed and implemented. Such payments would likely cost more than $1 trillion.

— CNBC’s Li Ying Xiang, Chloe Taylor, Justina Li, Garrett Downs, Anique Bao, Spencer Kimball, Kevin Breuninger, Kif Leswing, Katie Tarasoff, Isabel O’Brien, Jeff Cox, Steve Reisman, Matt Peterson, Raya Neelakandan, Sara Witten and Alex Sherman contributed to this report.

Josephine Rozzelle edited this newsletter.