5 Things to Know Before the Stock Market Opens on Thursday, October 6

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

After two wild rallies, US stock markets returned to negative territory on Wednesday. By the end of the day, the bulls had a little fight, but this was not enough to continue the winning streak. The general conclusion on Wall Street is that we are still in a state of general turmoil in the stock market, especially as the Federal Reserve is pushing ahead with aggressive interest rate hikes to curb inflation. The reporting season will start in earnest next week, but until then, investors’ attention is focused on the labor market. Private businesses added 208,000 jobs last month, topping estimates, according to ADP. Meanwhile, the government is to release monthly employment data on Friday. A hot labor market is likely to bolster the Fed’s rationale for further rate hikes. Read real-time market updates here.

OPEC+ oil-producing nations on Wednesday agreed to the group’s biggest production cut since 2020, seeking to curb supplies as prices fell and fears of lower global demand intensified. The decision was made at a time of political tension. The United States is in the midst of a tense election campaign that will determine the balance of power in Congress. The move has drawn the ire of President Joe Biden’s administration and could have serious repercussions for key OPEC nation Saudi Arabia, which also sees itself as a US ally. The White House said a “frustrated” Biden would consult Congress on ways to limit OPEC’s power in setting energy prices. “Today’s whistle could be interpreted as a sign that the President will not necessarily stand in the way of a vote on a bill that declares OPEC a cartel and extends Sherman’s antitrust laws to members,” RBC Capital strategists said. Follow the movement of oil prices here.

Elon Musk and Twitter has yet to reach a final agreement, but there have been several key behind-the-scenes developments in their negotiations. The judge presiding over the two-party litigation in the Delaware Court of Chancery said on Wednesday that she is still preparing for the trial, which is due to begin Oct. 17, as neither party has asked for a delay. Musk was scheduled to testify in the case on Thursday, but both sides agreed to postpone it as discussions continue, Reuters reported. The news service, citing sources, also said that Apollo Global Management and Sixth Street Partners had ended negotiations to provide a total of $1 billion to support the $44 billion deal.

A federal jury found Joe Sullivan, Uber’s former security chief, guilty of covering up a cybersecurity breach in 2016, this affected the personal data of 57 million drivers and customers. “Sullivan worked resolutely to cover up the data breach from the FTC and took steps to prevent the hackers from being caught,” said Stephanie Hinds, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California. Uber did not disclose the incident for a year. Cybersecurity leaders rarely face prosecution in these circumstances, so this case could be a turning point. When Sullivan was indicted in 2020, prosecutors accused him of arranging for $100,000 in bitcoins to be paid to the criminals, as well as forcing them to sign non-disclosure agreements that falsely stated that they did not steal any data during the hack. Uber previously paid nearly $150 million to settle claims that it took too long to uncover the breach. In July, the company reached an agreement to avoid criminal charges by agreeing to cooperate in the prosecution of Sullivan. He faces a potential five-year prison term.

Shocking news from Thailand: A gunman has killed at least 24 children and 11 adults in an attack that began in a kindergarten in the northeastern part of the country. The suspect opened fire and killed several people as he drove off before returning home to kill his wife and child, police said. Then he committed suicide, they added. Authorities identified the man as a former police officer. According to the Associated Press, gun deaths in Thailand are rarer than in countries like the US and Brazil, but more common than in countries with strict gun laws like Singapore and Japan. The rate of firearm-related deaths in 2019 was about 4 per 100,000 people, compared to about 11 per 100,000 in the US and nearly 23 per 100,000 in Brazil.