5 things to know before the stock market opens Friday

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

Investors are watching fresh inflation data, out Friday morning, for another point of evidence in the Federal Reserve’s ongoing effort to bring down prices. The major averages are all headed for a down week, despite posting gains on Thursday. Through the first four days of the week, the S&P 500 is down 1.64%, set for its worst week since Dec. 16; the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down nearly 1.99%, headed for its fourth straight losing week; and the Nasdaq Composite is down 1.67%, on pace for its second negative week in three. “We’re still looking down the barrel of a gun that has not come to grips with what the consumer may or may not have strength for for the rest of the year,” SoFi’s Liz Young said Thursday on CNBC’s “Halftime Report.” Follow live stock markets updates.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked one year since his country was invaded by Russia with a message of resilience: “On 24 February, millions of us made a choice. Not a white flag, but a blue and yellow flag. Not fleeing, but facing. Facing the enemy. Resistance and struggle,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on Telegram. Thousands of people had died because of the conflict and millions more have been made refugees. “It was a year of pain, sorrow, faith and unity. And this is a year of our invincibility. We know that this will be the year of our victory,” he said. Read live updates on the war in Ukraine.