5 things to know before the stock market opens on Friday

Happy Friday. President Donald Trump decided who to nominate as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, and it turned out that person was one “Kevin.”

Stock futures are falling this morning. of S&P500 The second day ended with a small loss.

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

President Trump announced this morning that he will nominate former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh to be the next chair of the U.S. central bank. “I’ve known Kevin for a long time, and I believe he will go down as one of the great Fed Chairs, perhaps one of the best,” Trump said on social media.

As CNBC’s Jeff Cox points out, the nomination is unlikely to upset the market, given Warsh’s central bank pedigree and Wall Street’s belief that he will remain politically independent. But Warsh will need Senate confirmation, a process that could be complicated given Republican Sen. Thom Tillis’ pledge to block Fed nominations until the criminal investigation into current Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is completed.

Administration officials told CNBC that Warsh visited the White House yesterday amid speculation that Trump’s nominees would be narrowed down to the former Federal Reserve chief. Other finalists for the role were considered to be Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, Christopher Waller, current Fed director, and Rick Rieder of BlackRock.

of iShares Expanded Technology Software Sector ETF (IVG) Yesterday marked the worst day since April, dragged down by subsequent decline in performance. ServiceNow and microsoft. The fund is currently down about 22% from recent highs, meaning the software industry has officially entered bear market territory.

Here’s what you need to know:

Microsoft fell 10% in its worst session since 2020, wiping out more than $350 billion in market capitalization. The company beat expectations in both areas in Wednesday’s earnings report, but Microsoft reported slowing cloud growth and gave a weak outlook for operating margins. ServiceNow also fell about 10% in yesterday’s trading. The enterprise software company beat analysts’ profit estimates, but Wall Street’s concerns about how artificial intelligence will disrupt the sector outweighed the strong results. IVG is on track to post its biggest monthly loss since 2008, further proof of how much the tide has turned in an industry that was once a Wall Street darling. Losses in the software sector weighed on technology-focused companies. Nasdaq CompositeStill, the three major indexes are on track to end the trading month in the green, ending at today’s closing bell. Follow live market updates here.

President Trump yesterday endorsed a Senate deal that funds most of the government through the end of the fiscal year. As CNBC’s Garrett Downs reports, his support should help get the funding package across the finish line and avert a partial government shutdown scheduled to begin early Saturday.

The revised agreement would authorize funding for several ministries, including the Departments of Education, Defense, Treasury, State, and Transportation. Notably absent from the group is the Department of Homeland Security, which Democrats demanded be removed from the bill after two Americans were killed by federal immigration agents in Minnesota this month. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he would instead provide two weeks of stopgap funding to DHS.

At least a partial government shutdown appears to remain a possibility after last night’s vote in the Senate was postponed due to opposition from members on both sides of the aisle.

apple Yesterday’s fiscal fourth quarter beat Wall Street expectations in both areas. The personal technology giant also beat revenue estimates for the iPhone and iPad, but fell short of analysts’ expectations for some other products and services.

In an interview with CNBC’s Steve Kobach, Apple CEO Tim Cook said demand for the iPhone is “tremendous.” Overall iPhone sales rose 23% on an annual basis, but Apple said sales could have been even better with more access to the chip.

Early yesterday, Apple representatives confirmed the acquisition of Israeli AI startup Q.ai. The purchase price for Q.ai has not been disclosed, but the company’s website suggests that it is working on developing audio-related products.

Another AI deal could be in the works: Sources told CNBC yesterday: Amazon There are talks to invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI in the coming weeks.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy are in direct discussions, people told CNBC. Negotiations are seen as fluid and the final amount is subject to change.

Such a deal would be notable given the fact that Amazon has invested billions of dollars in Anthropic, one of OpenAI’s leading competitors, since 2023. An Amazon representative declined CNBC’s request for comment.

It’s been a busy week, sandwiched between a Federal Reserve meeting, a government funding impasse, and a flurry of earnings calls. Here are some of the stories you may have missed.

CNBC’s Jeff Cox, Yun Li, Jordan Nove, Samantha Subin, Sean Conlon, Pia Singh, Garrett Downs, Kif Lesswing, Steve Kobach, Ashley Caputo, Kate Rooney and Annie Palmer contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this version.