news

5 things to know before the stock market opens Thursday

Kevin Carter | Getty Images

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 taxis at Los Angeles International Airport on September 19, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. 

  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both retreated from recent records.
  • Meta unveiled a new virtual reality headset and a smart glasses prototype.
  • Southwest Airlines is cutting some service to and from Atlanta next year in an effort to save money.

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

1. Retreat

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both retreated from recent records on Wednesday. The Dow slipped 0.7% during regular trading, and the S&P gave up 0.19%. It was a fairly broad, albeit not-all-that drastic, pullback: Nine of the S&P's 11 sectors closed the day in negative territory. Tech, however, marked a bright spot, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite managed a narrow gain of just 0.04%. Follow live market updates.

2. Meta vision

Manuel Orbegozo | Reuters
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg tries on Orion AR glasses at the Meta Connect annual event at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, U.S., September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo

Mark Zuckerberg has vision — in the form of a new virtual reality headset and a smart glasses prototype. The Meta CEO unveiled the new devices Wednesday at the company's connect event in Menlo Park. Meta is already a dominating force in VR headsets, thanks in part to its low prices (which are going even lower with the new editions) and is up against the likes of Apple's Vision Pro. Here's a look at what Meta's Quest 3S can do, and what it'll go for.

3. Coming down

Southwest Airlines is cutting some service to and from Atlanta next year in an effort to save money. It's also eliminating as many as 300 pilot and flight attendant positions at the hub, without laying off any crew members. "Although we try everything we can before making difficult decisions like this one, we simply cannot afford continued losses and must make this change to help restore our profitability," Southwest said in an internal memo seen by CNBC's Leslie Josephs. The carrier, which has undergone major changes and is facing an activist push from Elliott, is set to hold an investor day on Thursday.

4. AEOffensive

Budrul Chukrut | Lightrocket | Getty Images
A shopper walks past the American clothing and accessories retailer American Eagle store in Hong Kong.

American Eagle is suing Amazon, alleging the e-commerce giant is infringing on its trademark with "inferior quality knock-offs." The complaint, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, claims Amazon improperly displays trademarked brands Aerie and Offline by Aerie to deceive shoppers into thinking the clothing lines are available on Amazon. Clicking through to the brand names, however, pulls up "dupes," largely sold by third-party vendors, according to the lawsuit.

5. NYC corruption charges

Yuki Iwamura | AFP | Getty Images
New York City Mayor Eric Adams attends a press conference after he was subpoenaed by the federal grand jury at New York City Hall on August 16, 2024 in New York. 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is facing criminal charges. The former police captain has been indicted in federal court in Manhattan, accused of wrongdoing related to contributions to his 2021 mayoral campaign, including at least one count dealing with contributions by a foreign national, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC. The indictment, which remains sealed, comes after the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office began investigating the Mayor's ties to Turkey. In a statement Wednesday night, Adams called the potential charges "entirely false, based on lies."

– CNBC's Brian Evans, Jesse Pound, Kif Leswing, Jonathan Vanian, Leslie Josephs, Annie Palmer and Dan Mangan contributed to this report.

Copyright CNBC
Exit mobile version