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:

U.S. stock futures were little changed Thursday morning, as Wall Street enters the final trading day of a holiday-shortened week. Stocks had a strong Wednesday, rallying on the back of mostly positive earnings from the likes of Delta Air Lines and Fastenal. The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite broke three-day losing streaks, climbing 1.12% and 2.03%, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 344 points, or 1.01%. Despite Wednesday’s gains, the major indexes are still on pace for negative weeks. Investors are keeping a close eye on corporate results, as earnings season ramps up. The stock market will be closed for Good Friday.

The 10-year Treasury yield stood around 2.70% on Thursday morning, up just 1 basis point. Yields move inversely to prices, and a basis point equals 0.01%.

Four major U.S. banks reported first-quarter results Thursday morning: Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley. Here’s how they did:

• Goldman Sachs: The Wall Street bank significantly topped revenue and earnings forecasts, as its trading desk deftly navigated market volatility. Shares of Goldman Sachs jumped more than 2% in premarket trading.  
• Wells Fargo: Shares of the San Francisco-based bank fell after it missed the Street’s revenue estimates as mortgage lending in the quarter declined. Wells Fargo’s earnings per share of 88 cents were better than the 80 cents analysts anticipated, according to Refinitiv.
• Citigroup: The firm led by CEO Jane Fraser eclipsed revenue and profit estimates. Citi earned $2.02 per share on revenue of $19.19 billion. The stock was up more than 3% in premarket trading.
• Morgan Stanley: The bank beat analyst forecasts on the top and bottom lines, sending shares higher by more than 2%. The strong quarterly results were fueled by gains in trading revenue.

Elon Musk made an offer to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share, just days after the Tesla CEO and world’s wealthiest person reversed course on joining the social media company’s board of directors. Musk, a prolific tweeter who has more than 81 million followers on the platform, recently became Twitter’s largest individual shareholder. (Vanguard has since amassed a bigger stake and is now the largest shareholder.) In a letter to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor, Musk said he thinks Twitter should be the “platform for free speech around the globe,” but cannot be that “in its current form.” He wrote, “Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.” Musk’s offer values Twitter at about $43 billion.

Twitter shares jumped nearly 12% in premarket trading Thursday on the news, which was disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Shares of Tesla were lower by about 1.3%.

Amazon intends to add a 5% “fuel and inflation” surcharge to the existing fees it collects from third-party sellers in the U.S. who rely on the e-commerce giant’s fulfillment services. In a notice to sellers obtained by CNBC, Amazon said the additional fee will be implemented on April 28 and is “subject to change.” Amazon’s decision represents an attempt to offset its own rising costs as inflation in the U.S. runs at its hottest levels since the early 1980s. Gas prices, in particular, have surged in recent weeks due to oil supply concerns related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Programming note: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy will be interviewed live on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” at roughly 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.

The entire crew of Russia’s Moskva warship was evacuated after the flagship of its Black Sea fleet was damaged. Ukrainian officials said the country successfully launched a missile strike on the vessel, while Russia claimed the evacuation was due to a fire. The incident is noteworthy, Reuters reported, because the Russian navy’s activities in the Black Sea help support Moscow’s land operations in the southern part of Ukraine.

As Finland and Sweden inch closer to seeking NATO membership, Russia said the two Nordic nations would become new “opponents” if they join the U.S.-led military alliance. “There can be no more talk of any nuclear-free status of the Baltic – the balance must be restored,” Dmitry Medvedev, a key official on Russia’s Security Council, said on his Telegram channel.

— CNBC’s Natasha Turak and Annie Palmer contributed to this report.

— Sign up now for the CNBC Investing Club to follow Jim Cramer’s every stock move. Follow the broader market action like a pro on CNBC Pro.