• Stock futures are lower after Wednesday's market rally.
• The Federal Reserve held its key interest rate steady.
• SoftBank announced it will acquire Ampere Computing in a $6.5 billion deal.

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

1. Fed-fueled rally

Stocks rallied Wednesday after Federal Reserve officials said they still see two interest rate cuts coming this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 383.32 points, or 0.92%, while the S&P 500 rose 1.08% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.41%. Futures were lower before the bell Thursday, as investors looked to extend Wednesday's rebound from the market's weeks-long sell-off. All three indexes are still down significantly from their recent highs, with the Nasdaq still in correction territory. Follow live market updates.

2. Rate fate

As expected, the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady Wednesday, keeping its key borrowing rate in a range between 4.25%-4.5%. Despite continued economic uncertainty from President Donald Trump's trade and fiscal policy, central bank officials said they still see a half percentage point of rate cuts in 2025, meaning likely two more rate cuts this year. The group also slashed its outlook for economic growth to 1.7% and hiked its inflation outlook. "Uncertainty around the economic outlook has increased," the Fed's post-meeting statement read. "The Committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate."

3. SoftBank, hard launch

Japanese giant SoftBank announced on Wednesday that it will acquire Ampere Computing in a $6.5 billion deal. Ampere — a startup that designed an Arm-based chip — will remain headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and operate as an independent subsidiary, SoftBank said. The acquisition is SoftBank's latest effort to broaden its investment in AI infrastructure. The company in February committed to spending $3 billion a year to use OpenAI's technology and is also part of President Trump's AI infrastructure investment project, dubbed Stargate.

4. Clear skies ahead?

Shares of Boeing rose nearly 7% Wednesday after CFO Brian West said the embattled planemaker's cash burn was easing this quarter, estimating that the improvement could be in the "hundreds of millions" of dollars. "We think we're off to a good start for the year," West said. Boeing — which last posted an annual profit in 2018 — went through $14 billion last year as it faced a two-month labor strike, production issues and safety crises.

5. FTC firings

After being abruptly fired by President Trump on Tuesday, former FTC commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter warned that her ousting should concern markets. "It's not just about the FTC, it's about all of the structures of government that protect market stability," Slaughter told CNBC Wednesday. "So, the markets that depend on the stability provided by government institutions should be very concerned." Trump also fired Alvaro Bedoya, the only other Democratic FTC commissioner. Both Slaughter and Bedoya have called the move illegal.

— CNBC's Sean Conlon, Pia Singh, Brian Evans, Jeff Cox, Yun Li, Jordan Novet, Dylan Butts, Leslie Josephs and Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report.