U.S. Stocks Wobble Ahead of Fed Meeting on Interest Rates

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks wobbled on Monday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting to decide the next step on interest rates.

At 10:35 ET (14:35 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 68 points, or 0.2%, while the S&P 500 was up 0.1% and the NASDAQ Composite was flat. All three indexes opened lower.

Most expect the Fed will raise its benchmark rate by a 0.75 percentage point, as it also did in June and July, while there are some who see the possibility of an even bigger full-point increase. Investors have worried in recent days that the Fed’s aggressive actions to cool inflation will tip the economy into a recession.

Fed officials, including Chair Jerome Powell, have said they will fight with whatever it takes to tame inflation even if that causes pain in the economy. On Wednesday, Powell will hold a press conference after the Fed makes its rate announcement.

Homebuilder confidence fell again, the ninth month in a row in September. A jump in mortgage interest rates and high prices for materials are keeping would-be buyers on the sideline. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market index dropped three points to 46, the lowest reading since May 2014 apart from the sharp drop in early 2020 when everything shut down because of the pandemic, Reuters reported.

Shares of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc (NASDAQ:TTWO) fell 1.6% after a report about a hack that ended up putting parts of its new Grand Theft Auto IV video game on the internet.

AutoZone Inc (NYSE:AZO) shares fell 3.8% after it reported better than expected revenue and profit, as the auto parts retailer’s same store sales rose 6% from last year.

Oil fell. Crude Oil WTI Futures was down 0.7%, to $84.19 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures crude fell 0.6%, to $90.81 a barrel. Gold Futures also fell 0.4%, to $1677 an ounce.