5 things to know before the stock market opens Monday, December 12

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

The Federal Reserve will hold its two-day policy-setting meeting this week, starting Tuesday. It is expected to boost its benchmark rate by another half of a percentage point, following several three-quarter-point increases going back to June. Adding to the drama for markets, the government will release November’s consumer price index reading, a keenly watched measure of inflation, on Tuesday. While the CPI print likely won’t sway the Fed’s voting members during the meeting, it could influence Chairman Jerome Powell’s tone during his remarks Wednesday, Patti Domm writes for CNBC PRO. Read live markets updates here.

Microsoft is taking a 4% stake in the London Stock Exchange Group as part of a new, 10-year partnership. Over that period, LSEG has agreed to spend at least $2.8 billion on Microsoft’s cloud-related products. Microsoft will also move LSEG’s data platform and other parts of its tech infrastructure to its Azure cloud product. The two firms will also work together on developing workplace collaboration tools. The move comes as Microsoft, which also makes Xbox gaming consoles, faces an antitrust battle in the United States over its proposed acquisition of video game giant Activision Blizzard.

Twitter Blue is back. Again. Elon Musk’s social media company said over the weekend it would launch the service Monday. It’ll cost you $8 a month if you want to edit tweets, upload 1080p videos and get a blue verification checkmark – unless you use Twitter through Apple’s iOS. Then you’ll have to pay $11 a month. The rollout comes as Musk scrounges for revenue as ad dollars shrink. It also comes after Musk resolved a “misunderstanding” with Apple CEO Tim Cook, during which Musk said Apple was considering removing Twitter from the App Store.

NASA’s Orion space capsule splashed down Sunday in the Pacific Ocean, putting the final touch on the expensive, much-delayed Artemis I moon mission. The capsule didn’t have any astronauts, and it only made a couple close passes above the lunar surface, but it represents a major step for the agency’s desire to return to the moon. As of now, NASA hopes to put astronauts back on the moon in 2025, which would be more than 50 years after Americans last walked there.

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Group of Seven leaders on Monday are slated to discuss more sanctions on Russia as Vladimir Putin’s military continues to hammer Ukraine with missiles. The two countries’ forces are also engaged in bitter fighting on the battlefield. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, likewise, has continued to press Western leaders, particularly U.S. President Joe Biden, for more aid. Zelenskyy has said he expects “important results” from international leaders’ discussions. Read live war updates here.

– CNBC’s Jesse Pound, Patti Domm, Matt Clinch, Michael Sheetz and Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.

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