5 things to know before the stock market opens Thursday

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

Investors have a lot of numbers to chew on this morning. The consumer price index, a measure of inflation, came in hotter than expected. That report followed Wednesday’s producer price index, which also came in higher than projected. Earnings are picking up, too. Delta Airlines reported Thursday morning, as did Walgreens and Domino’s. (See more on Delta below.) Markets are coming off a subdued day for trading, as all three major U.S. indices fell slightly Wednesday. Futures fell sharply Thursday morning after the inflation report. Read live market updates here.

Minutes from the Fed’s September meeting show that policy makers have been surprised by persistently surging prices, even as they aggressively increase rates to cool off the economy. “Participants commented that recent inflation data generally had come in above expectations and that, correspondingly, inflation was declining more slowly than they had previously been anticipating,” the minutes read. The big takewaway, though, was: The rate hikes will continue until inflation improves. Still, according to CNBC’s Jeff Cox, some traders on Wall Street saw one crack in the Fed’s facade in this line from the minutes: “Several participants noted that, particularly in the current highly uncertain global economic and financial environment, it would be important to calibrate the pace of further policy tightening with the aim of mitigating the risk of significant adverse effects on the economic outlook.”

Read more: Moody’s Analytics’ Mark Zandi sees major inflation relief within six months

Delta Air Lines said Thursday that it expects to post yet another profit in the final quarter of the year, as people are expected to take to the skies for holiday travel after more than two years of Covid restrictions and wariness. “The travel recovery continues as consumer spend shifts to experiences and demand improves in corporate and international,” CEO Ed Bastian said in an earnings release. The company noted that its capacity is improving, too – saying it would be as much as 92% restored to pre-pandemic levels during the fourth quarter. It’s also aiming toward achieving a full recovery by next summer.

As Russian missiles and drones continue to hammer several of Ukraine’s cities, resulting in civilian deaths and blackouts, President Volodomyr Zelenskyy pleaded for more international help with air defense. He said Ukraine has only 10% of the air defense capability it needs, according to Reuters. Elsewhere, Russian leader Vladimir Putin is slated to meet with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish leader is expected to formally offer to host peace talks between Russia and western nations to end the Ukraine war. Zelenskyy, however, has said he won’t negotiate with Putin and will only talk when Russian forces leave his country. Read live war updates here.

The U.K. economy is a chaotic mess. Inflation is surging, families are facing high energy costs and the prospect of blackouts during the winter, and the government’s economic plans triggered a bond-market bloodbath that imperils its currency. The economy also shrank by 0.3% in August. Analysts see this as the beginning of a recession that could last a while. “We now believe the recession in the U.K. has begun in the third quarter of 2022 and will likely last for three quarters. Our near-term GDP outlook anticipates a recession spilling into 2023 because of a tight and prolonged squeeze on household budget fueling a consumer-led recession,” said Raj Badiani, of S&P Global Market Intelligence. Read more from CNBC’s Elliot Smith.

– CNBC’s Alex Harring, Jeff Cox, Leslie Josephs, Holly Ellyatt and Elliot Smith contributed to this report.

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