5 things to know before stock markets open on Thursday, December 23

Here are the most important news for investors to start their trading day:

After all, Santa is going to deliver to the stock market. Christmas is still two trading days away, and Wednesday showed stocks are still rallying, even in this otherwise lackluster month. Major indexes rose with the Dow up more than 500 points, the S&P up 1.49% and the Nasdaq up 1.54%. Still, stocks are on course to end December in the red and could end their worst annual performance in 14 years. On Thursday, investors will chew on the latest unemployment data claims. Read live market updates Here.

Semiconductor manufacturer MicronIt said it was squeezed by declining demand for personal computers Reduce its workforce by about 10%, when bonuses are withheld. That’s a few thousand employees, according to the company’s latest filing of about 48,000 employees. Micron announced the decision as it posted its latest quarterly results and forward guidance, both of which fell below Wall Street’s expectations. “Over the past several months, we have seen a dramatic drop in demand,” CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said in prepared remarks.

With crypto exchange FTX collapsing and its founder and mastermind Sam Bankman-Fried being sued, you might be wondering why we haven’t heard from Gary Wang and Carolyn Ellison. If you doubt them Cooperates with Central Banks, you are right. On Wednesday night, Wang, a co-founder of FTX, and Ellison, who was co-CEO of sister firm Alameda Research, agreed to plead guilty to federal crimes while working with authorities on the fallen crypto case, federal prosecutors said. Company. The news broke when Bankman-Fried, aka SBF, was on a flight from the Bahamas to the United States to face his own case.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took Washington by storm on Wednesday. A successful visit. It was his first excursion beyond Ukraine’s borders since Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of the former Soviet country in February. Zelensky’s trip to the US capital included a meeting and press conference with President Joe Biden at the White House and a 32-minute conversation in a joint session of Congress. “Thank you for the two funding packages you’ve already given us,” he told lawmakers about to approve more than $44 billion in new aid to Ukraine. “Your money is not charity. It’s an investment in global security and democracy that we handle very responsibly.”

Another day, another harsh scrap of data from the housing market. Home sales fell 7.7% in October-November, more than expected. Sales decline for 10th consecutive month. The sales reflected contracts signed in September and October, peaking before interest rates eased slightly in recent weeks. (Though they’re double what they were earlier this year.) “In essence, the residential real estate market froze in November, similar to the selling activity seen during the Covid-19 economic lockdowns in 2020,” he said. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.

– CNBC’s Samantha Subin, Kiff Lesswing, Mackenzie Sigalos, Rohan Goswami, Christina Wilkie, Chelsey Cox and Diana Olig contributed to this report.

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