• Stock futures were lower as investors braced for the December jobs report.
• The Los Angeles wildfires could be the costliest blaze in U.S. history.
• President-elect Donald Trump is set to be sentenced in his criminal hush money case.

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

1. Back in action

Many U.S. financial markets were closed Thursday for a national day of mourning in honor of former President Jimmy Carter. Treasury yields, meanwhile, fell in a shortened trading session. On Friday, stock futures were lower as traders braced for the December job report. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures both fell around 0.1%, and futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 16 points, or 0.04%. Follow live market updates.

2. Wildfire cost

Wildfires in the Los Angeles area continue to burn out of control, forcing nearly 180,000 people to evacuate and destroying thousands of structures. The fires could become the costliest blaze in U.S. history, with JPMorgan estimating that insured losses may exceed $20 billion. The Palisades Fire — the largest of five burning in the county — has caused catastrophic damage in the affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood, where the median home price is more than $3 million, according to JPMorgan. The investment bank on Thursday estimated economic losses from the fires at nearly $50 billion, more than double its estimate from the prior day.

3. Best is yet to come

Delta Air Lines beat sales and earnings estimates for the fourth quarter on Friday and gave a first-quarter outlook that topped analyst expectations. "Everywhere, we see consumers continue to prioritize experience over goods," CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC, saying that sets Delta up for its "best financial year in our history." Delta — the first major U.S. airline to report earnings this quarter — said it expects to generate more than $4 billion in free cash this year, an 18% increase from 2024.

4. No more cuts

The December interest rate cut should be the last, Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said Thursday, calling the Fed's decision to cut rates last month the "final step in the policy recalibration phase." The current policy rate, Bowman said, is near what she considers "neutral," but she added that there are still "upside risks to inflation." Bowman's remarks came the day after the Fed released minutes from its December meeting, which showed that Fed officials expressed concern about the impact of President-elect Donald Trump's proposed policies.

5. Sentencing

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected Donald Trump's request to block proceedings in his criminal hush money case, clearing the way for the president-elect to be sentenced in a New York court on Friday. Trump was convicted in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to a hush money payment he made before the 2016 election. The judge in the case is expected to give Trump an "unconditional discharge," meaning he will not receive jail time, probation, fines or any other penalties.

— CNBC's Sean Conlon, Spencer Kimball, Leslie Josephs, Jeff Cox, Kevin Breuninger and Dan Mangan contributed to this report.