5 things to know before the stock market opens Thursday, May 29

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

Stock futures were higher after a federal trade court struck down President Donald Trump’s so-called “reciprocal tariffs” Wednesday evening. The decision appeared to appease investors, who had been roiled by the president’s ever-changing trade policy since he announced the steep duties on April 2. Positive earnings results from Nvidia also helped to lift stocks, with futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average up around 200 points, or 0.5%, before the bell Thursday. S&P 500 futures, meanwhile, rose about 1.1% and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 1.6%. Follow live market updates.

A three-judge panel on the Court of International Trade dealt a major blow to Trump’s trade agenda Wednesday evening, ruling that the president exceeded his authority by unilaterally imposing his reciprocal tariffs. Finding that the 1977 law Trump invoked to impose his sweeping tariffs does not actually give him the power to do so, the court ordered a permanent halt to the duties and barred any future modifications. The ruling affects the reciprocal tariffs Trump levied against more than 180 countries and territories, as well as the tariffs levied against Canada, Mexico and China related to drug trafficking. Existing tariffs on specific products like aluminum and steel are not impacted. The Trump administration has 10 days to make the changes mandated by the judges’ ruling, which the administration has already appealed.

In one of the most closely watched earnings reports of the season, chipmaker Nvidia beat Wall Street’s top- and bottom-line expectations Wednesday, reporting a 73% jump in data center sales year-over-year. The AI darling’s sales forecast of $45 billion for the current quarter was slightly below LSEG estimates, but the company said its guidance would have been $8 billion higher if it weren’t for losses from export curbs on its H20 chips. CEO Jensen Huang emphasized the effect of the chip controls on the earnings call, telling analysts that the “$50 billion China market is effectively closed to U.S. industry.” Still, revenue rose 69% from the same period last year. Shares of Nvidia were more than 5% higher Thursday morning on the results, which sparked a rally in global semiconductor stocks.

At the Federal Reserve’s meeting earlier this month, officials worried that Trump’s tariffs could aggravate inflation and force them to make “difficult tradeoffs,” minutes released Wednesday showed. “Participants agreed that uncertainty about the economic outlook had increased further, making it appropriate to take a cautious approach until the net economic effects of the array of changes to government policies become clearer,” the minutes said. The Fed kept its benchmark interest rate steady in a range between 4.25%-4.5% — where it has been since December — with officials noting that the central bank was “well positioned to wait for more clarity on the outlooks for inflation and economic activity.”

E.l.f. Beauty is buying Hailey Bieber’s beauty brand Rhode in a deal worth as much as $1 billion, the company announced Wednesday. The acquisition — E.l.f.’s largest ever, according to FactSet — reflects the cosmetic company’s push deeper into skincare: Rhode was the top skincare brand in earned media value last year. Bieber will serve as Rhode’s chief creative officer and head of innovation as part of the deal, which is expected to close later this year. E.l.f also reported earnings results for its fourth quarter Wednesday, beating estimates on the top and bottom lines. The company did not offer guidance, though, due to tariff uncertainty. Shares of E.l.f. initially fell on the announcements but were back up more than 9% before the bell Thursday.

— CNBC’s Pia Singh, Erin Doherty, Lora Kolodny, Kevin Breuninger, Christina Wilkie, Kif Leswing, Jeff Cox and Gabrielle Fonrouge contributed to this report.