Wall Street today: S&P 500 and Nasdaq rise as investors eye Fed decision

US stocks edged higher on Monday, as investors eyed anticipated Federal Reserve interest rate cut later in the week.

The US Fed’s final rate decision of the year is due on Wednesday.

As of 10:05 am Eastern time, the S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 0.2 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5 per cent.

At the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.3 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 43825.76. The S&P 500 rose 12.7 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 6063.79, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 89.4 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 20016.121.

Among the megacap stocks, Google-parent Alphabet climbed 2.1 per cent and Amazon.com added 1 per cent.

Crypotocurrency stocks rallied as bitcoin briefly rose above$106,000 after President-elect Donald Trump indicated he plans to create a US bitcoin strategic reserve similar to its strategic oil reserve.

Coinbase rose 3.7 per cent and bitcoin miner MARA Holdings gained 4.9 per cent.

Honeywell International gained 1.8 per cent after the equipment maker said it was exploring a separation of its aerospace business. 

Broadcom stock leaped 9.7 per cent after delivering better than expected profit.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.38 per cent from 4.40 per cent late on Friday. The 2-year yield slipped to 4.23 per cent from 4.25 per cent.

Crude oil

Oil futures dropped on Monday, pressured by weakness in consumer spending in China.

Brent crude futures fell 32 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $74.17 a barrel by 1300 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude dropped by 27 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to $71.02.

Bullion

Gold prices gained on Monday, supported by ongoing geopolitical concerns and lower US Treasury yields.

Spot gold was up 0.3 per cent at $2,655.39 per ounce as of 9:56 a.m. ET (1456 GMT). US gold futures slipped 0.1 per cent to $2,674.10.

Spot silver rose 0.31 per cent to $30.58 per ounce.