U.S. stocks edged higher Monday morning ahead of a busy week for investors, with key inflation data and the Fed’s last policy meeting of the year serving as highlights.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) inched higher by 0.2% in early morning trading, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) ticked up by 0.3%, or nearly 120 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) nudged forward by 0.1%.
All three major indexes ended with losses during Friday’s trading session, capping the worst week for stocks since September. The S&P 500 dropped 3.4% while the Dow fell 2.8%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 4% for that week.
Investors were also keeping an eye on oil early Monday, with WTI crude oil up 0.8% to trade at $71.94 after crude settled at a new low for 2022 on Friday.
Yields on government bonds also slightly dipped, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note at around 3.523% early Monday, off a couple of basis points from Friday’s settlement.
Wall Street geared up for a busy week, as consumer-price data out Tuesday is expected to help inform the expected trajectory of interest rates over the coming months.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg estimate headline CPI to increase by 0.3% for the second consecutive month, with year-over-year CPI falling from 7.7% to 7.3%.
The Fed will make its next interest-rate decision Wednesday at the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting, with investors expecting a 0.5% increase in the Fed’s benchmark rate. Investors will watch for any clues from the Fed and Chair Jerome Powell to the path of interest rates moving forward.
“We may have these higher interest rates go a bit higher than the market’s currently predicting,” Thomas H. Lee Partners co-CEO Scott Sperling told Yahoo Finance Live on Friday. “And they may sustain for longer than the market is currently predicting.”
In corporate news, Twitter Blue is due to relaunch Monday with a nearly 30% surcharge for iPhone owners. The service still costs $8 per month, but will be $11 for those who purchase the services through the App Store.
Shares of Horizon Therapeutics Public Limited Company (HZNP) surged 14% on Monday after Amgen agreed to acquire the company in an all-cash deal valued at $27.8 billion, marking it the largest healthcare merge of the year, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @daniromerotv
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