5 things to know before the stock market opens on Monday

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

Stock markets ended last week on a bad note, with all three major US indexes selling sharply in their worst close in months after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank would continue to fight inflation by raising interest rates. This week doesn’t look like it’s going to get such a hot start either. Futures fell across the board on Monday morning, with no new economic data or major earnings reports expected. Investors are looking forward to the August jobs report, due on Friday, as they weigh the size of an interest rate hike that could come from the Federal Reserve in September.

NASA prepares to return to the moon in style. Although the Artemis I mission won’t have a crew or actually land on the Moon, it will be an important space travel milestone. It will house NASA’s most powerful rocket, and will put the space agency on the right track to get people back to the moon. The Artemis project has faced several delays and has a budget of well over several billion dollars, so its first assignment is high stakes, to say the least. CNBC’s Michael Sheetz broke it up. The mission was scheduled to launch as early as 8:33 a.m. ET on Monday, although it may eventually be delayed to another date.

NBC News, citing a senior Biden administration official, reported that the federal government will stop sending free Covid tests to Americans on Friday. “If Congress provides the funding, we will urgently resume the distribution of free tests through covidtests.gov,” the person said, according to NBC. Until then, we think booking the remaining tests for distribution later this year is the best course of action. This development comes at a time when children are returning to school and many large employers are forcing their workers to return to the office. Google employees have said they face numerous notifications of Covid infections, and some are calling for changes to the company’s vaccine policy.

A team from the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency heads to the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. The facility, the largest of its kind in Europe, was the focus of heavy fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the region. The Russians were bombing the area around the plant, which raised fears of a nuclear meltdown. Inspectors will check the damage to the plant and assess whether it is safe and secure. Read more about the Ukraine war here.

Serena Williams is ready to call it a career on the professional tennis court. Earlier this summer, the star, who will turn 41 next month, said she would be leaving the sport after the US Open ended. Williams, arguably the greatest tennis player of all time, is searching for one last Grand Slam title that would tie her to Margaret Court for more than ever (24). Williams, who said she will spend more time working on venture capital after retirement. Danka Kovinic is scheduled to play in the first round at 7 p.m. ET on Monday in Queens, New York.

Some stories you may have missed over the weekend:

– CNBC’s Jesse Pound, Michael Sheetz, Jennifer Elias and Arjun Khrapal contributed to this report.

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