5 things to know before the stock market opens Thursday

Dow futures were pointing to a 900-point plunge at Thursday's open as worries intensified about a second wave of the coronavirus in America. As nearly two dozen states report sharp rises in Covid-19 cases, total infections in the U.S. have now topped 2 million, according to data from Johns Hopkins University on Thursday morning. So-called reopening trade stocks from airlines to cruise lines to retailers were under heavy pressure in the premarket. Nasdaq futures were also sinking after the Nasdaq Composite bucked Wednesday's declines on Wall Street, closing above 10,000 for the first time ever.

While the pace of new weekly jobless claims continues to slow, the government said Thursday there were 1.54 million first-time filings for unemployment insurance last week. That was slightly less than expected. New claims were up nearly 1.9 million the previous week, the first time below 2 million since the week that ended March 14. The government's latest claims data comes after Friday's stunning monthly employment report, showing 2.5 million nonfarm job gains for May.

The Federal Reserve, with the dual-mandate to control inflation and maximize employment, sees interest rates staying near zero through 2022 and the U.S. economy bouncing 5% next year. The Fed left rates unchanged at a range of 0%-0.25% after its two-day June meeting, which ended on Wednesday.

Along with the rate decision, central bankers projected that the economy will shrink 6.5% this year due to the unprecedented coronavirus lockdowns. The Fed also said it will continue to increase its bond holdings, targeting Treasury purchases at $80 billion per month and mortgage-backed securities at $40 billion.

Bubbly price moves in the stocks of bankrupt companies, a jump in the number of bullish investors and surging activity by small investors in stock options are all signs that the stock market may have run too far, too quickly. There's even been a big rally in stocks trading under $1 per share, so-called penny stocks, which racked up an average gain of nearly 80% in the past week. With the Dow up about 48% as of Wednesday's close from its March 23 low, analysts have been seeing signs that the market has been overbought. The sharp drop in stock futures Thursday indicated that some of the froth may be beginning to unwind. Shares of Hertz, which filed for bankruptcy last month, were down 28%, to $1.81, in the premarket following a 39% drop on Wednesday.

Shares of Grubhub, which has seen a boost in orders as restaurants were forced to become delivery only, were jumping 8.7% in Thursday's premarket after the American food delivery service announced late Wednesday a merger with Europe's Just Eat Takeaway. Sources told CNBC that U.S.-based Uber, which had been in negotiations with GrubHub to combine it with Uber Eats, was left confused by the decision. Grubhub's deal with Just Eat is unlikely to garner as much regulatory attention as a combination with Uber would have. Privately held Doordash is the market leader in the U.S., according to the latest data from research firm Second Measure.

Amazon is banning use of its facial recognition software by police for one year, as pressure builds on tech companies to respond to the death of George Floyd during a Memorial Day arrest in Minneapolis. While the House Committee on Oversight and Reform has held hearings on the use of facial recognition, it has yet to introduce a bill regulating the technology. Amazon's announcement comes just days after IBM said that it's exiting the facial recognition business, with CEO Arvind Krishna calling on Congress to enact reforms to advance racial justice and combat systemic racism.

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