5 things to know before the stock market opens Friday

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

Stocks saw more losses on Thursday, with the S&P 500 suffering its third straight session of the month in the red. The broad market index fell 0.3% to close out the session at 5,503.41. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also suffered losses, sliding 0.54% to finish at 40,755.75. Unlike those two major averages, the Nasdaq Composite ended the session with gains. The tech-heavy index rose 0.25% to finish at 17,127.66, even moving as high as 1.2% earlier in the session. Arun Sai, senior multi-asset strategist at Pictet Asset Management, said, “We’re right in the middle of yet another mini growth scare.” Follow live market updates.

Wall Street is watching for new jobs data from the Labor Department. According to Dow Jones, the consensus estimate is nonfarm payrolls grew by 161,000 in August with a modest decrease in the unemployment rate to 4.2%. The report comes after private payrolls for last month rose by 99,000, signifying the smallest job growth gain in more than three-and-a-half years. “The labor market has cooled faster than we originally had been told, so that’s what’s calling [Friday’s report] into question,” Giacomo Santangelo, an economist at job search site Monster, said. “What the Fed is going to do in response, how are they going to adjust rates, that’s why we are having this conversation.”

Red Lobster has survived bankruptcy. On Thursday, a bankruptcy court approved the restaurant’s restructuring plan. That sets the seafood chain up to soon exit Chapter 11 protection, which the company filed for back in May. Per the company’s plan, Red Lobster will be acquired by RL Investor Holdings by the end of September, after which former P.F. Chang’s CEO Damola Adamolekun will lead the restaurant. Red Lobster’s current CEO, Jonathan Tibus, will leave the company. “This is a great day for Red Lobster,” Adamolekun said in a statement. “With our new backers, we have a comprehensive and long-term investment plan — including a commitment of more than $60 million in new funding — that will help to reinvigorate the iconic brand while keeping the best of its history.”

Salesforce is buying startup Own. The cloud software company announced Thursday that it will acquire the data protection and data management firm, previously known as OwnBackup, for $1.9 billion in cash. Salesforce hopes to close the deal in the fourth quarter. The proposed deal comes less than two years after co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff said the company had disbanded its board committee on mergers and acquisitions. Signaling a potential return to more substantial deals for the company, the deal also follows Salesforce unveiling plans to buy fellow startups PredictSpring and Tenyx.

A bigger-than-expected interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve this month could spell disaster for the markets, according to George Lagarias. The chief economist at Forvis Mazars supports a quarter-point reduction. “I don’t see the urgency for the 50 [basis point] cut,” he told CNBC. “So, it would be very dangerous if they went there without a specific reason. Unless you have an event, something that troubles markets, there is no reason for panic.” Other economists like JPMorgan’s Michael Feroli hold a different view, however. The firm’s chief U.S. economist believes the Fed should cut rates by 50 basis points this month. “We think there’s a good case that they should get back to neutral as soon as possible,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” The central bank is expected to start lowering rates at its next FOMC meeting on Sept. 17-18.

— CNBC’s Samantha Subin, Jesse Pound, Jeff Cox, Amelia Lucas, Jordan Novet and Sam Meredith contributed to this report.

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