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5 Things to Know Before the Stock Market Opens Thursday

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

1. Stock futures steady after turning in a strong first half of 2021

U.S. stock futures were steady Thursday on the first day of the third quarter on Wall Street. Investors hope the second half of 2021 remains as strong as the first half. The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday rose 210 points, moving within 0.8% of its latest record close in early May. Dow stock Walgreens Boots Alliance rose about 2% in the premarket after the drug store chain reported strong quarterly results and outlook. It also unveiled more details about its turnaround strategy. The S&P 500 on Wednesday ticked higher for its fifth-straight record close. The Nasdaq fell slightly from a record close in the prior session.

2. Wall Street's June, second-quarter and year-to-date numbers

Wednesday was the last day of June, the second quarter, and the first half of the year.

  • Ahead of the new trading day, the S&P 500 was up 14.4% year to date. The Dow and Nasdaq were each up more than 12% so far in 2021. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq turned in gains for June. The Dow fell modestly. All three benchmarks were up solidly in the second quarter.
  • U.S. oil prices rose around 2.5% on Thursday to above $75 per barrel, the highest level since 2018. As of Wednesday's settle, West Texas Intermediate crude was up strongly in June and in the second quarter. WTI has risen more than 51% for the year.
  • Bitcoin fell roughly 3% on Thursday but remained above $33,000. The world's biggest cryptocurrency by market value, which saw an all-time high in April near $65,000 and recent lows below $29,000 last week, closed out the first half of the year down about 47% from its record.

3. Bond yields tick higher after new Covid-era low jobless claims

The 10-year Treasury yield, which began 2021 below 1% and spiked to 14-month highs above 1.77% in March, ticked higher Thursday to around 1.47%. Investors got another read on the U.S. labor market before the bell. After two straight weeks above 400,000, the government reported a lower-than-expected 364,000 new filings for unemployment benefits for last week, a new pandemic-era low. The government releases its June employment report Friday.

4. Krispy Kreme's IPO prices below expected range, set to debut again

Krispy Kreme doughnuts go into production at the opening of the store at Harrods in London, Britain, October, 3, 2003.
David Bebber | Reuters
Krispy Kreme doughnuts go into production at the opening of the store at Harrods in London, Britain, October, 3, 2003.

Krispy Kreme returns to the public markets Thursday, the morning after pricing 29.4 million initial public offering shares below the expected range at $17 per share. The IPO raised nearly $500 million, valuing the doughnut chain at $2.7 billion. Krispy Kreme, founded in 1937, was taken private by Keurig-owner JAB Holding in a $1.35 billion deal in 2016. It first went public in 2000. The company is set to begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "DNUT."

In what was the biggest U.S. listing by a Chinese company since 2014, ride-hailing giant Didi started trading Wednesday morning and ended the day with a valuation of more than $68 billion. A slew of other firms, including Clear Secure and LegalZoom, popped in debuts Wednesday.

5. Trump Organization and its CFO indicted by Manhattan grand jury

Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg looks on as then-U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, May 31, 2016.
Carlo Allegri | Reuters
Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg looks on as then-U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, May 31, 2016.

The Trump Organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, surrendered to the Manhattan district attorney's office on Thursday after a grand jury indicted him and former President Donald Trump's company in a criminal case over its business dealings. The indictments against the firm and Weisselberg, handed up by a New York grand jury, are expected to be unsealed in court Thursday afternoon in Manhattan, a Trump representative told NBC News. NBC previously reported the charges center around allegations of Weisselberg and other Trump Organization executives receiving benefits without reporting them properly on their tax returns.

— NBC News and Reuters 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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