Stock Market Today: Stocks edge higher with Fed rate decision in focus
Five central bank rate decisions, as well as a key retail sales reading, will keep markets focused this week.
U.S. edged higher in early Monday trading, while global oil prices jumped to a two-week high and Treasury yields steadied, as investors looked to crucial five-day stretch on Wall Street highlighted by a Federal Reserve rate decision later in the week.
Updated at 9:37 AM EDT
Muted open
The S&P 500 was marked 9 points, or 0.15% higher in the opening minutes of trading, with the Nasdaq rising 6 points, or 0.03%.
The Dow gained 102 points while the mid-cap Russell 2000 slipped 1.5 points, or 0.07%.
"Last Friday’s rally took some of the sting out of the S&P 500 entering correction territory, but the factors that have contributed to the downturn, especially tariffs and a less-aggressive consumer, haven’t disappeared," said Chris Larkin, managing director for trading an investing at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley.
Today’s retail sales miss highlighted the slowdown in the consumer space. Most corrections don’t turn into bear markets, but most of them don’t end the same day they begin, either," he added. "Traders and investors shouldn’t assume too much about the market’s near-term path, other than it will likely contain more twists and turns."
S&P 500 Opening Bell Heatmap (Mar. 17, 2025)$SPY flat⬜$QQQ flat⬜$DJI -0.14%
