5 things to know before the stock market opens on Tuesday, July 16

Here are five key things investors need to know to get started on the trading day:

Major stocks closed in the green on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted the biggest gain, jumping more than 200 points, or 0.53%, to 40,211.72. Not only did the flagship index close at a record high, it also hit a new intraday high during the session. The S&P 500 also hit a new intraday high, gaining 0.28% to close at 5,631.22. The Nasdaq Composite also closed higher, rising 0.4% to 18,472.57. Follow live market updates.

It appears that the Federal Reserve is not going to hesitate to cut rates before reaching its inflation target. On Monday, at the Economic Club of Washington, DC, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said that the central bank would not wait for inflation to reach 2% to cut interest rates. Instead, the Fed will seek to have “more confidence” that inflation will return to the 2% level. “The implication is that if you wait for inflation to get back to 2%, you’ve probably waited too long, because the tightening that you do, or the level of tightening that you have, still has effects that will probably push inflation down below 2%,” the chairman said. As for the U.S. economy, Powell added that he believes a “hard landing” is “not a likely scenario.”

Former President Donald Trump attended the first day of the Republican National Convention, where he was seen wearing a bandage over his right ear. It was his first appearance since Saturday’s assassination attempt. Next to him in the VIP box was his new vice president, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance. Other close allies, including conservative TV personality Tucker Carlson and House Speaker Mike Johnson, were also seen in the box. His appearance came as shares of Trump Media closed up more than 30% in Monday’s trading session. Also Monday, Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the criminal case against the former president over classified documents. A spokesperson for special counsel Jack Smith said the Justice Department would appeal the decision.

It’s now unclear whether General Motors will actually meet its electric vehicle production capacity goal. According to CEO Mary Barra, it may not have the capacity to produce 1 million fully electric vehicles in North America by the end of next year. “We’re not going to get to the million mark just because the market isn’t growing, but we’re going to get there,” Barra said during a virtual CNBC CEO Council event on Monday. This comes after the company has reiterated for more than two years that it would have production capacity in North America as well as China by 2025. That’s despite the company changing or withdrawing several EV targets and product plans over the past year.

A preview version of the new iPhone update has arrived. On Monday, Apple released a public beta of the iOS 18 software that will launch alongside new iPhones later this year. While Apple Intelligence isn’t in the public beta, a beta of it will be released this fall. In the meantime, the company said users will be able to try it out this summer. The new update comes with new versions of key user interface elements, including the Lock screen, Home screen, and Control Center. Apps like Photos and Messages have also been redesigned. Plus, users will even be able to make their app icons the same color.

— Alex Harring, Yun Li, Jesse Pound, CNBC’s Rebecca Picciotto, Kevin Breuninger, April Roach, Dan Mangan, Michael Wayland and Kif Leswing contributed to this report.

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