5 things to know before the stock market opens Thursday

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• Fed Chair Jerome Powell said it’s “unlikely” the central bank’s next move will be a rate hike.
• Google laid off hundreds of workers in its “Core” team.
• Fast-food restaurants might be seeing the long-predicted consumer pullback.

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

1. Flicker of a surge

Wednesday was a volatile day for the major averages after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pretty much ruled out that the central bank’s next move would be a rate hike (more on that below). The markets initially responded positively to that news, but it didn’t last. The Dow rallied more than 530 points at its session high, but ended up closing the day only 87.37 points, or 0.23%, higher. The S&P 500 was up 1.2% at one point, but finished the day by losing 0.34%, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped more than 1.7% in intraday trading only to close with a loss of 0.33%. Investors will watch Thursday for economic data and more corporate earnings. Follow live market updates.

2. Rate hike ‘unlikely’

The key takeaway from Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting? Chair Jerome Powell said it was “unlikely” the Fed would hike rates as its next step. That statement came as the Fed held rates at their current rate of 5.25% to 5.50%, as expected. The Fed has held rates at that level since July 2023, when it last implemented a rate hike and took the range to its highest level in more than two decades. The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee did vote this week to slow the pace of balance sheet reductions, in what could be viewed as an incremental loosening of monetary policy. But Powell also sent a warning about sticky price pressures on Wednesday. “Inflation is still too high,” he said. “Further progress in bringing it down is not assured and the path forward is uncertain.”

3. Googlers gone

Google laid off at least 200 employees from its “Core” team just before it announced blowout earnings on April 25, CNBC’s Jennifer Elias reported. The Core team is the unit responsible for building the technical foundation behind the company’s flagship products, and it also protects users’ safety online. Some roles will move to India and Mexico as part of the reorganization. Google’s parent company Alphabet has been slashing jobs since early last year, when the company cut 12,000 jobs or roughly 6% of its workforce, after a downturn in the ad market.

4. Cutting back

Are consumers finally starting to cut back? Economists have been predicting they would tighten their spending in response as prices and interest rates stay high. Now, fast-food chains might be seeing that happen. Starbucks announced a surprise drop in same-store sales for the most recent quarter. KFC and Pizza Hut also saw that metric fall, while McDonald’s said it would adopt a “street-fighting mentality” to compete for budget-conscious diners. Many restaurant companies offered other reasons for the drops, citing weather or tough comparisons to the previous year, but those don’t fully explain the weak quarter.

5. Peloton off

Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy is stepping down after a little more than two years in the role and the company is laying off 15% of its staff, or about 400 employees. The company also plans to continue closing retail showrooms and changing its international sales plan as it looks to cut costs by $200 million. Peloton said in a Thursday news release that the restructuring is designed to realign its cost structure with the current size of its business. Peloton appointed two interim co-CEOs and is seeking a permanent replacement.

— CNBC’s Samantha Subin, Jeff Cox, Jennifer Elias, Amelia Lucas and Gabrielle Fonrouge contributed to this report.

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