Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Job market murk
It wasn't too long ago when strong jobs data would send investors packing since they were worried Federal Reserve would hike rates faster to beat back inflation. Now, signs of weakness in the labor market trigger worries about a hard landing for the economy. It shows in this week's messy market performance, following reports that showed the number of job openings decreasing and a slowdown in private sector hiring. The Nasdaq is on a three-day losing streak, while the S&P 500 and the Dow were mixed Wednesday. Thursday is the last day markets are open this week, so investors will chew over the latest weekly jobless claims data. Any market impact from Friday's March job report, however, won't be felt until next week due to the Good Friday holiday. Follow live markets updates.
2. Crude reality
The decision from OPEC+, the oil-producing cartel led by Saudi Arabia, to cut production by more than a million total barrels a day could send crude prices back up to $100. The global economy is already contending with the effects of inflation, so this will no doubt squeeze consumers all over the place. But it's going to hit some countries harder than others. CNBC's Lee Ying Shan broke down the economies that will feel the biggest pinch from more expensive oil, including India. It will weigh especially heavily on the developing world, experts say.
3. Icahn warns Illumina
Now that the Federal Trade Commission has ordered Illumina to divest cancer test developer Grail, activist investor Carl Icahn is stepping up his proxy fight with the company. Icahn warned his fellow shareholders in Illumina that the company's plan to appeal the FTC's decision will come "at great expense" over the course of several more years. The appeal, he added, "is an almost impossible battle." Icahn, who owns 1.4% of Illumina, launched his proxy fight last month. He is seeking seats on the board, while pushing Illumina to divest Grail. Since the company made the acquisition in August 2021, its market value has tumbled to about $36 billion from $75 billion.
4. Another loss for Fox
The Delaware judge overseeing Dominion's $1.6 billion defamation case against Fox Corp. and its right wing cable networks said he can indeed compel the company's top bosses, Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, to give live testimony. It was the latest setback in the case for Fox, which has argued the father and son pair shouldn't have to testify. "Demanding witnesses who had nothing to do with the challenged broadcasts is just the latest example of their political crusade in search of a financial windfall," a Fox spokesperson said. Previously released evidence in the case demonstrates that the Murdochs kept close contact with Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott during key moments during the network's coverage of the 2020 election and its aftermath. The trial is slated to begin April 17.
5. Willing to negotiate
Ukraine is willing to start talking to Russia about the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014, if the Ukrainian army reaches Crimea's border, according to a top official in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government. "If we will succeed in achieving our strategic goals on the battlefield and when we will be on the administrative border with Crimea, we are ready to open [a] diplomatic page to discuss this issue," Andriy Sybiha told the Financial Times. Elsewhere, the White House said it hasn't seen any indication that China is supplying Russia with lethal weapons for the war in Ukraine. Follow live war updates.
– CNBC's Alex Harring, Lee Ying Shan, Annika Kim Constantino, Lillian Rizzo and Natasha Turak contributed to this report.
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