5 things to know before the stock market opens Monday

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

Stock futures were flat Monday as Wall Street watches debt ceiling negotiations in Washington. The three major U.S. indexes climbed last week, and the borrowing limit talks, earnings and a couple of economic data points will help to determine whether they post a second straight winning week. The minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting, which could illuminate future interest rate policy, will come out Wednesday. The government will offer a second read on first-quarter GDP on Thursday. The personal consumption expenditures price index, a key inflation gauge the Fed watches closely while making its interest rate decisions, is due Friday. Follow live market updates here.

Policymakers in Washington have only 10 days to raise or suspend the debt ceiling before they risk a first-ever U.S. default as early as June 1. Talks between the White House and House Republicans kicked back into gear Sunday as President Joe Biden returned from the G-7 summit in Japan. Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., plan to meet Monday afternoon in a positive sign for the discussions, which moved markets throughout last week. The time of their huddle was unclear as of Monday morning. A U.S. default would damage the U.S. and global economies – and force the Treasury to make “hard choices” about which bills to pay, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday. Raising the debt ceiling does not authorize new spending, but Republicans have pushed Democrats to slash fresh outlays as part of a deal to increase the borrowing limit.

As first-quarter earnings season winds down, retail will again dominate the slate of companies reporting this week. The biggest names posting results include Lowe’s and Best Buy. But other retailers from Kohl’s to Gap will also offer more information about how consumers are spending their money, and what businesses are doing to keep shoppers buying. Last week’s reports that included Home Depot, Target and Walmart suggested inflation is still hampering households, and some companies indicated sales slowed as the first quarter went on. Here are some of the key companies reporting this week:

European regulators handed Meta a 1.2 billion euro ($1.3 billion) fine for allegedly sending EU user data to the U.S. The penalty is the largest handed out for alleged violations of the landmark digital privacy rule known as the General Data Protection Regulation, which took effect in 2018. Regulators ordered the Facebook owner to suspend future data transfers to the U.S. Meta plans to appeal the decision.

Shares of Micron slid in premarket trading after China said it would bar some purchases of the U.S. chipmaker’s products. Chinese semiconductor stocks popped on the news. The ban, sparked by a review from China’s Cyberspace Administration, extends to operators of “critical information infrastructure.” The administration said in a statement that Micron’s chips “have serious network security risks, which pose significant security risks to China’s critical information infrastructure supply chain, affecting China’s national security.” Increasing economic and political tensions between the U.S. and China have extended to the supply of semiconductors, which is critical for a range of industries. Micron said it would continue to engage with Chinese authorities, according to Reuters.