5 things to know before the stock market opens Wednesday

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

We’ve hit the midpoint of a murky week for stocks. The Dow and the S&P 500 slipped Tuesday after the government’s consumer price index for January showed hotter-than-expected inflation. The Nasdaq, however, finished the session in the green. Even though the inflation print came in higher than economists’ estimates, Wall Street seemed to take it in stride as it still showed the pace of price increases slowing down. Wednesday brings more data, including indicators from the housing market, as well as another handful of corporate earnings reports, including Kraft Heinz before the open and Cisco after the bell. Follow live markets updates.

In a rare moment of accord between the Biden administration and Elon Musk’s electric vehicle empire, Tesla agreed to open up thousands of its charging stations to EVs made by other companies, according to the White House. Tesla and other companies that build and operate charging networks are also in line to win federal funding if their charging infrastructure lives up to government standards. Tesla agreed to make at least 7,500 chargers in the U.S. available for any compatible EV by the end of next year. That includes 3,500 of the company’s Superchargers that are located on major highways in addition to slower Level 2 destination chargers that Tesla provides at restaurants and hotels, among other locations.

It’s not all good news in the world of EV batteries, though. Ford halted production and shipments of its flagship F-150 Lightning pickup over…