U.S. Stocks Edge Higher as Investors Look to Aggressive Fed

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks edged higher as investors braced for continued aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

At 10:16 ET (14:16 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 61 points, or 0.2%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.2% and the NASDAQ Composite rose 0.3%.

The Fed remains committed to taming inflation, and the market increasingly believes that means the central bank will raise its benchmark rate by another 0.75 percentage point later this month, as it did in each of June and July. Some investors had hoped slowing inflation signs would signal smaller rate cuts.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak on Thursday, and investors will be closely listening for any hints of future policy direction.

Newell Brands Inc (NASDAQ:NWL) shares fell 0.3% after the maker of Rubbermaid containers said it saw a bigger than expected pullback in demand from consumers, leading it to cut third quarter guidance.

United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) shares rose 2% after it raised its third quarter revenue outlook, citing strong travel demand.

Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) shares rose 3.9% on a Reuters report that a Delaware judge denied Elon Musk’s request to delay the trial about his deal to buy Twitter until November.

Oil fell, with a worsening energy crisis in Europe, on demand fears. Crude Oil WTI Futures was down 4%, to $83.36 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures crude fell 3.6% to $89.45 a barrel. Gold Futures rose 0.1% to $1715 an ounce.