5 things to know before the stock market opens Thursday

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:1. Dow set to add to Wednesday's record despite Capitol turmoilEconomists expect an increase in initial jobless claims, when the Labor Department reports its weekly numbers at 8:30 a.m. ET. With the seven-day average of new daily U.S. Covid-19 infections spiking to a record high, first-time filings for unemployment benefits are seen rising by 28,000 to 815,000 for the week ended Jan. 2.Ahead of Friday's government employment report, the ADP's look at December jobs trends at U.S. companies showed a contraction in private-sector positions for the first time since the early days of the coronavirus. Throughout most of the pandemic, the ADP estimates have been below the final government count.2. 10 year Treasury yield above 1%; bitcoin above $38,000The 10-year Treasury yield remained above 1% on Thursday morning after projected wins for Democrats in both Senate runoff elections in Georgia. Lightening-up on bonds, pushing prices down and yields up, investors bought riskier assets like stocks and bitcoin.In fact, bitcoin smashed through $38,000 to hit a new record high on Thursday as the world's largest cryptocurrency continued its massive rally. Bitcoin has been up about