An American flag hangs behind traders working on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on October 11, 2019 in New York City.
An American flag hangs behind traders working on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on October 11, 2019 in New York City.
  • Stocks moved higher on Monday ahead of big tech earnings and the Fed's next policy meeting.
  • Markets are anticipating the Fed to raise rates another 25 basis points on Wednesday.
  • Meanwhile, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta and Intel are due to report earnings later this week.

US stocks rose on Monday as investors braced for another week of big tech earnings and the Fed's next policy move, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average looking could nab its 11th straight gain. 

Markets are pricing in a 99.8% chance the Fed will hike interest rates another 25 basis points at the end of its Federal Open Markets Committee meeting on Wednesday, per the CME FedWatch tool. That would lift the target rate to 5.25%-5.5%, the highest since 2001.

Wall Street is optimistic it could be the Fed's last rate hike, with markets pricing in an 84% chance the Fed will pause rates at its September policy meeting. 

Meanwhile, investors are waiting on quarterly reports from Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta to assess the rally fueled by Wall Street's excitement for artificial intelligence. All three stocks are up more than 40% from levels at the start of the year.

"The market's focus will soon shift to big tech earnings and of the few tech companies that have reported so far, forward guidance has been cautious, which may be a precursor to what we might see from the Magnificent 7 tech company earnings that are released over the next week," Main Street Research chief investment officer James Demmert said in a note on Monday. "Anything less than expectations could cause downside volatility in this sector," he added.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET opening bell on Monday:

Here's what else is happening this morning:

In commodities, bonds and crypto:

  • West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 1.22% to $78.03 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, edged up 1% to $81.88.
  • Gold inched higher 0.21% to $1,965.41 per ounce.
  • The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped 2 basis points to 3.80%.
  • Bitcoin edged lower 2.22% to $29,228, while ether fell 1.09% to $1,852. 
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