A currency trader passes by the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, right, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Dec. 11, 2023. Asian shares were mixed on Monday after Wall Street touched a 20-month high, at the start of a week that includes essential U.S. inflation data and the Federal Reserve’s final rate decision of the year. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks are off to a mixed start on Wall Street ahead of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting of the year. The S&P 500 was flitting between small gains and losses early Monday. The Nasdaq composite was off 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 55 points, or about 0.2%. Macy’s soared almost 16% following reports that an investor group is launching a bid to take the storied retailer private for $5.8 billion. Markets will get updates this week on inflation at the consumer and wholesale level before the Fed’s meeting wraps up on Wednesday. Treasury yields rose.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Wall Street is flat ahead of the release this week of U.S. inflation data and the Federal Reserve’s final interest rate decision of the year.
Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average each lost less than 0.1% before the bell Monday.
The Fed will will announce its next move on interest rates Wednesday. Most economists expect the Fed to stand pat and not raise its benchmark borrowing rate. It would be the third consecutive time that the Fed, after string of rate hikes to fight inflation, has left its benchmark rate alone.
A sturdy labor market and steady spending are making it increasingly possible that the Fed can pull off a so-called “soft-landing,” whereby inflation is tamed and a recession is avoided.
On Tuesday, the U.S. government will report on U.S. consumer inflation.
Central banks in Europe are meeting as well this week, including the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, the Swiss National Bank, and Norway’s central bank.
Cigna jumped nearly 14% in premarket on reports that the health insurer was dropping its bid to acquire Humana and spending $10 billion to buy back its own shares.
In Europe at midday, Germany’s DAX was virtually unchanged, the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.3% and the FTSE 100 in London was down 0.4%.
In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng sank 0.8% to 16,201.49 and the Shanghai Composite added 0.7% to 2,991.44.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gained 1.5% to 32,791.80 and the Kospi in Seoul was 0.3% higher, to 2,525.36. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1% to 7,199.00.
India’s Sensex was 0.1% higher and Bangkok’s SET added 0.2%.
Oil prices retreated Monday with a barrel of benchmark U.S. oil losing 13 cents to $71.10 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It’s more than $20 below where it was in September.
Brent crude, the international standard, fell 9 cents to $75.75 per barrel.
In currency dealings, the U.S. dollar rose to 146.42 Japanese yen from 144.93 yen. The euro was trading at $1.0769, up from $1.0761.
On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 4,604.37, marking its longest winning streak in four years, following a better-than-expected U.S. job market report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite both gained 0.4%.
The government’s jobs report on Friday showed that U.S. employers added more jobs last month than economists expected. Workers’ wages also rose more than expected, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly improved.
The strong data have kept at bay worries about a possible recession, at least for a while longer, and stocks of some companies whose profits are closely tied to the strength of the economy rallied.
