5 things to know before the stock market opens Monday – CNBC

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

Major US stock indexes continued to perform well last week. Dow Jones Industrial Average. of S&P500 and Nasdaq Composite Both companies posted positive gains for the third consecutive week, rising 1% and 3.3%, respectively, and Friday's closing prices set new records. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% for the week. November payroll growth to be released on Friday was stronger than expected, and data released on Wednesday could show that inflation is still higher than the Fed would like. Still, traders overwhelmingly expect the central bank to cut rates again at its December 17th and 18th meetings. Follow live market updates.

Jerome Powell's job may be secure even when President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month. Asked if he intended to end his term as Fed chairman before it ends in May 2026, he said: “I don't think so,” President Trump told NBC's Kristen Welker. Powell said it was not illegal for Trump to try to oust him from his post early, and stressed that he has no intention of leaving the post before his term ends. President Trump, who appointed Powell to lead the central bank in 2018 before President Joe Biden nominated him for a second term in 2022, has argued that the president should have more say in interest rate policy. .

Syria's Assad dictatorship After decades of family control, it appears to have collapsed. Rebel forces seized control of Syria's capital Damascus on Sunday, forcing President Bashar al-Assad to flee. The rebel coalition is led by the Islamic extremist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which the United States and the United Nations Security Council list as a terrorist organization. “We declare the city of Damascus liberated from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad,” HTS senior commander Hassan Abdulghani said in a WhatsApp post. “To all the displaced people of the world, a free Syria awaits you.'' Rebels are now forming a new government after Assad's government used deadly force to crush opposition for years. We are faced with the complex task of doing so.

Last week, United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered. This has sent shockwaves through corporate America, with a growing number of companies questioning even the most mundane management responsibilities. “Everyone is panicking and saying, 'Are we safe?'” he said. Chuck Randolphchief security officer at Ontic, an Austin, Texas-based provider of threat management software. Companies have worried that their executives could be at risk of violence after Mr. Thompson was gunned down on a Manhattan sidewalk on his way to the company's investor presentation. More companies are moving to keep their leaders safe, with at least one taking its in-person investor events virtual.

Baseball's biggest free agent award will go to the New York Mets, according to multiple reports. Slugger Juan Soto transfers from Bronx to Queens Media outlets said it was a 15-year, $765 million contract. This is the largest contract in the history of professional sports. Soto, 26, a four-time All-Star who led the New York Yankees to a World Series appearance last year, will join a Mets team that lost to the eventual champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. .

– CNBC’s Sarah Ming, Ruksandra Yodash and Hugh Song, NBC’s Katherine Doyle and David K. Lee contributed to this report.