5 things to know before the stock market opens on Thursday

Happy Thursday. For almost a week last year, McDonald’s was the world’s number one seller of one item, and it wasn’t edible. The fast food chain became the world’s number one sock seller in December for socks, yes, socks, thanks to Grinch Meals.

Stock futures are rising this morning after a day of declines.

Here are five important things investors need to know to start their trading day.

Nonfarm payrolls in the U.S. labor market rose by 130,000 jobs last month, more than double the 55,000 expected in the Dow Jones consensus forecast. The better-than-expected report also showed the unemployment rate fell to 4.3% in January, the lowest level since August.

Here’s what you need to know:

Job growth in January was better than any month in 2025, but Wednesday’s report was still not all positive. Most of the month’s job gains were in healthcare-related fields. The annual revision also showed that salary increases from April 2024 to March 2025 were 898,000 fewer than originally announced. On a monthly basis, the previous forecast for November was revised downward by 15,000 people, and the figure for December decreased by 2,000 people. This would translate into a net employment loss of 1,000 jobs in the last six months of 2025. Overall, the positive headline data wasn’t enough to quell concerns about the health of the U.S. labor market. Stocks initially rose following the report’s release, but all three major indexes ended trading lower on Tuesday. Traders increasingly expect the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates on hold until at least June, which could dampen investor enthusiasm. Follow live market updates here.

The House of Representatives voted last night to repeal President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada. Several Republicans joined all but one Democrat in passing resolution 219-211 in a symbolic but perhaps futile rebuke of President Trump’s cornerstone economic policies.

The bill will now be introduced in the Senate, which supported a similar bill last year. But even if the Senate approves the resolution, Trump is likely to veto it. Still, six Republicans voted in favor of the anti-tariff measure, although the president used social media during the vote to pressure party members to go along with him. “Republicans who voted against tariffs in both the House and Senate will face severe repercussions come election time. And that includes the primaries!” Trump posted.

The U.S. generated $30 billion in tariffs in January, an increase of more than 300% from a year earlier, the Treasury Department said Wednesday. The surge in tariff revenues helped slow the pace of the federal budget deficit.

mcdonalds Yesterday, it beat Wall Street’s fourth-quarter sales and bottom line expectations, reporting that domestic same-store sales rose nearly 7% thanks to a popular promotion.

The positive results show that the fast food chain’s value-focused efforts are paying off. “By listening to our customers and taking action, we improved our traffic and strengthened our value and affordability scores,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a statement. But as CNBC’s Kate Rogers reports, McDonald’s price push is causing ripples among some franchisees as well.

meanwhile, restaurant brand international This morning, the company announced fourth-quarter results that beat expectations. Burger King parent company’s same-store sales outside the U.S. rose 6.1%, beating analysts’ expectations of 3.7%.

Wall Street is eager for more IPOs from the technology sector. But for now, they will have to wait. As CNBC’s Ari Levy and Jordan Nobe report, activity in the tech capital markets is now focused on debt as the space’s hyperscalers compete to fund their artificial intelligence build-outs.

A UBS report last month estimated that global tech and AI-related debt issuance could reach $990 billion this year, up from $710 billion in 2025. oracle and alphabet It is the largest corporate bond sale to date. Amazon, Meta and tesla They suggested they might not be far behind.

The prospect of nearly $1 trillion in bond sales and mega-cap tech spending forecasts for 2026 are flashing warning lights for some investors worried about an AI bubble.

The Federal Aviation Administration yesterday lifted its order suspending all flights to and from Texas’ El Paso International Airport, just hours after announcing a 10-day grounding of flights for “safety reasons.”

A person briefed on the matter told CNBC that the FAA’s airspace closure was due to the Pentagon’s testing of anti-drone technology. Trump administration officials said Wednesday that the Pentagon has neutralized a Mexican cartel drone that violated U.S. airspace.

Wednesday’s jobs report led many traders to temper their expectations for a rate cut in 2026, but GeneRite Capital’s David Einhorn disagreed. Here’s what Einhorn told CNBC’s Sarah Eisen in response to the labor report:

—CNBC’s Jeff Cox, Sean Conlon, Liz Napolitano, Amelia Lucas, Kate Rogers, Justin Papp, Garrett Downs, Ali Levy, Jordan Nove and Leslie Josephs contributed to this report. Melody Warner edited this version.