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5 Things to Know Before the Stock Market Opens Monday

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:

1. Dow set to rise slightly after Friday's record close

U.S. stock futures rose slightly to start the new week after the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday saw its first record close since mid-August. The S&P 500 dipped from Thursday's record finish. The Nasdaq dropped Friday, sending the tech-heavy index nearly 2% away from its latest record close on Sept. 7. All three benchmarks logged their first weekly winning streaks last week for the first time since early July.

Elevated bond yields and U.S. oil prices pushed higher Monday, with the 10-year Treasury yield around 1.66% and West Texas Intermediate crude above $85 per barrel.  The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline spiked 13 cents over the past two weeks to $3.44 per gallon — more than 180% higher than a year ago — according to the latest Lundberg Survey.

2. Bitcoin resumes march high after last week's all-time high

Chesnot | Getty Images

Bitcoin was higher Monday, rising back toward $63,000 as Wednesday's all-time high just below $67,000 had been met with some subsequent selling. Bitcoin's move to a record last week came as the first bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund in the U.S. debuted up 5%, an important development that drummed up excitement in crypto. The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which like bitcoin itself saw selling Thursday and Friday, rose about 3% in Monday's premarket trading. Bitcoin's prior all-time high in April coincided with another milestone for digital assets: crypto exchange Coinbase's debut on the Nasdaq.

3. Facebook reportedly vexed internally about right-leaning content

Facebook logo and stock graph are displayed through broken glass in this illustration taken October 4, 2021.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters
Facebook logo and stock graph are displayed through broken glass in this illustration taken October 4, 2021.

Shares of Facebook, following Friday's 5% decline, fell less than 1% in premarket trading. The social network continued to be embroiled in controversy, with a Wall Street Journal report Monday morning detailing internal arguments over the handling of right-leaning content. Also Monday, former Facebook data scientist turned whistleblower Frances Haugen plans to answer questions from U.K. lawmakers working on legislation to rein in the power of social media companies. It will be Haugen's second appearance before lawmakers after she testified in the U.S. Senate earlier this month.

4. Big Tech, more Dow stocks lead this week's earnings

Facebook is scheduled to report earnings after the bell Monday, kicking off a crush of quarterly results from Big Tech, including Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon. About 30% of S&P 500 companies issue earnings this week. A third of the Dow reports, including Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, Merck, Boeing and McDonald's. Of the companies that have already reported, nearly 84% beat estimates. Earnings are so far expected to be up 34.8% over last year, based on actual reports and estimates, according to I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv.

5. Manchin reportedly agreeable to wealth tax for Biden plan

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) speaks to reporters outside of the U.S. Capitol on September 30, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) speaks to reporters outside of the U.S. Capitol on September 30, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Holdout Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., appears to be on board with White House proposals for new taxes on billionaires and certain corporations to help pay for President Joe Biden's scaled-back social services and climate change package, according to The Associated Press. Biden huddled with Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., at the president's Delaware home Sunday to work on resolving the party disputes between centrists and progressives that have stalled the wide-ranging bill.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow all the market action like a pro on CNBC Pro. Get the latest on the pandemic with CNBC's coronavirus coverage.

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