5 things to know before the stock market opens Thursday

Happy Thursday. Planning a road trip this summer? If Kalshi traders are right, you could once again be shelling out $4 a gallon for gas.

Stock futures are mixed this morning as semiconductor stocks weigh on the market. All three major averages closed higher yesterday.

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

Wholesale prices unexpectedly decreased last month, offering another encouraging sign that inflation could be getting back in bounds. Yesterday’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics also gave investors hope that the Federal Reserve could hold off on raising interest rates.

Here’s what else to know:

United Airlines beat Wall Street’s second-quarter expectations on both lines. But as CNBC’s Leslie Josephs reports, the air carrier’s adjusted earnings forecast for the current period came in below analyst estimates as it warned it could see nearly $6 billion in additional fuel costs this year.

The Chicago-based airline said its fuel costs in the second quarter were 84% higher than a year ago. United said it would cover as much as 90% of the elevated costs in the current quarter and all of it in the final three months of the year.

Shares of the airline are more than 3% lower before the bell.

Shares of UnitedHealth are nearly 6% higher in premarket trading after the insurer blew past Wall Street’s expectations for the second quarter and raised its profit outlook for the full year.

As Annika Kim Constantino reports, the healthcare giant said its turnaround is gaining momentum as it exits unprofitable contracts, reduces membership and reins in medical costs. It is also investing $1.5 billion into artificial intelligence to boost efficiency.

Still, CFO Wayne DeVeydt said medical costs remained elevated in the quarter, and the company warned that rising premiums are pushing more customers out of its plans.

Warsh wasn’t the only one testifying on Capitol Hill yesterday. Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, faced questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee about the Epstein files, the Justice Department’s now-canceled “anti-weaponization” fund and FBI Director Kash Patel.

Meanwhile, Jay Clayton refused to acknowledge Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election during his confirmation hearing to become director of national intelligence. Clayton also defended his decision to subpoena New York Times journalists and told senators that he didn’t know his predecessor was involved in the raid of a Georgia election office.

In a voluntary interview with the House Oversight Committee, Goldman Sachs‘ former top lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler said that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein lied to her about his actions. Ruemmler said that if she had seen signs of Epstein abusing women or girls, she would have reported him to law enforcement.

Anthropic is scheduling meetings with investors ahead of its potential IPO this year, CNBC has learned. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase all are involved in planning for the offering.

As CNBC’s Ashley Capoot and Hugh Son report, bankers will gauge investor demand before a roadshow and share sale take place. The artificial intelligence startup confidentially filed its IPO prospectus with regulators last month, but the Claude maker hasn’t said when it expects to debut.

Notably, Anthropic looks set to beat its rival OpenAI to the public markets. Anthropic was last valued at $965 billion, above OpenAI’s $852 billion valuation.

— CNBC’s Jeff Cox, Matt Peterson, Brandon Gomez, Sean Conlon, Leslie Josephs, Annika Kim Constantino, Dan Mangan, Justin Papp, Luke Fountain, Emily Wilkins, Ashley Capoot, Hugh Son, Samantha Subin and Gabriel Cortes contributed to this report.

Luke Fountain assisted in the production of this newsletter. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.

Correction: Jay Clayton is Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence. A previous version of this newsletter misspelled his name.