5 things you should know before the stock market opens on Friday, August 23

Here are five important things investors need to know at the start of the trading day:

Stock futures rose on Friday, reversing course after a bad day. Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% on Thursday, the S&P500 lost 0.9% on Thursday, and the Nasdaq-Composite fell 1.7%, its worst day since August 5. The Dow and S&P are clinging to their week-to-date gains with one session to go. The Nasdaq, however, is posting a slightly negative weekly result ahead of Friday’s trading session. Follow the market updates live.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks at the Fed’s annual meeting with international central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at 10 a.m. ET on Friday. With a September rate cut in sight, Wall Street will be paying closer attention to policy commentary. In previous speeches at the annual meeting, Powell has laid out his thoughts on traditional unemployment limits and introduced more flexible inflation targeting.

Home sales rose in July for the first time in five months. The number of completed used-home sales rose 1.3% from June, a new indication of a housing market recovery. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said sales were still “sluggish” despite the month-over-month increase. “But consumers are definitely seeing more choices and affordability is improving due to lower interest rates,” Yun said.

New Covid vaccinations are on the way. The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday gave the green light to updated vaccines from Pfizer And Moderna that better target the circulating strains of the virus that cause a surge in cases in the summer. “Given the waning population immunity from previous exposure to the virus and from previous vaccinations, we strongly recommend that those eligible get an updated COVID-19 vaccine,” Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. The updated vaccines could be available as soon as the next few days.

Your Above Rides could soon be driverless. The ride-hailing giant and General Motors’ Cruise, the autonomous driving division, has announced a multi-year partnership to offer driverless rides on the Uber platform as early as next year. The companies declined to provide details on the launch or terms of their agreement, but Cruise CEO Marc Whitten said in a statement that the tie-up would usher in a “new era of urban mobility.” Cruise is in the process of reviving its robotaxi business following an incident in October in which a Cruise vehicle dragged a pedestrian 20 feet, causing the company to temporarily suspend operations.

—CNBC’s Yun Li, Jeff Cox, Diana Olick, Annika Kim Constantino, Lora Kolodny and Michael Wayland contributed to this report.