5 things to know before the market opens on Friday September 10

Here are the most important news, trends and analysis investors need to start their trading day:

U.S. equity futures rebounded on Friday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 posted their fourth consecutive session of losses. The Nasdaq experienced its second consecutive day of decline on Thursday. All three stock indexes were following negative weeks as concern persisted on Wall Street about the impact of the delta Covid variant on the economic reopening. The Dow Jones was 2% off last month’s record close on Thursday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were almost 1% off their last closing highs earlier this month.

Investors are also wondering how headwinds for the economy and rising inflation could play into the Federal Reserve’s decision to decide when to start cutting purchases of Covid-era bonds. The government announced Thursday that its producer price index for August rose 0.7%, slightly more than estimates, after jumping 1% in July. The base rate excluding food and energy rose 0.6%, which is in line with expectations. The August PPI rose 8.3% year-on-year, the strongest gain on record.

Extraordinarily high levels of home equity, thanks to the recent rise in house prices, put struggling borrowers in a much better position now than they were at the start of the pandemic. The number of active mortgage forbearance plans, in which borrowers were allowed to delay their monthly payments for 18 months, fell more than 5% from the previous week, according to a new report from analyst firm Black Knight. The drop was driven by the August expirations. Down from a peak of around 5 million borrowers in May 2020, there are still 1.618 million forbearance programs, or 3.1% of all outstanding mortgages.

An infuriated President Joe Biden on Thursday presented a broad plan to increase Covid vaccination rates in the United States, pressuring private employers to immunize their workforce and forcing federal employees, contractors and health workers to be vaccinated. The president’s efforts were supported by the American Medical Association, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Business Roundtable. However, the Republican National Committee intends to sue the Biden administration for the term. Also on Thursday, the Transportation Security Administration said it was doubling fines for travelers who violate federal mask mandates.

Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on Friday for the first time since February as tensions between the world’s two largest economies simmer. It was their second call between leaders since Biden took office in January, as tensions between the world’s two largest economies simmer. A White House reading said that “the two leaders discussed the responsibility of the two nations to ensure that competition does not come into conflict.” Chinese state media said Xi spoke of conditional opportunities for cooperation between the two countries on climate, Covid prevention, economic recovery, and major international and regional issues.

Regional Fed Chairmen Robert Kaplan and Eric Rosengren have said they will sell their individual stocks as questions arise over trade in 2020. Fed officials will sell all of their shares by the end of the month . They will put the proceeds into passive investments. Kaplan and Rosengren both pledged not to trade in stocks when they were Fed chairmen. The announcements come after Fed officials came under intense scrutiny over investment activity in a year when central bank actions supported financial markets during the Covid pandemic.

– The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. Follow all the market action like a pro on CNBC Pro. Get the latest pandemic news with CNBC’s coronavirus coverage.