US stock indexes drifted mostly higher in mixed trading Monday ahead of a meeting by the Federal Reserve later this week that could set Wall Street's direction into next year.
- The S&P 500 rose 22.99 points, or 0.4%, to 6,074.08.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 110.58 points, or 0.3%, to 43,717.48.
- The Nasdaq composite rose 247.17 points, or 1.2%, to 20,173.89, a new record.
Broadcom jumped for a second straight day. The technology company leaped 11.2% to help lead the S&P 500 for a second straight day after delivering a profit report last week that beat analysts' expectations, the
AP reports.
MicroStrategy jumped as much as 7% during the day as it continues to benefit from the surging price for bitcoin, which set another all-time high. But its stock ended the day down by less than 0.1% after bitcoin's price pulled back below $106,000 after setting a record above $107,700, according to CoinDesk. Honeywell rose 3.7% after saying it's still considering a spin-off or sale of its aerospace business, as part of a review of its overall business. It said it plans to give an update with the release of its fourth-quarter results. It helped offset a drop for Nvidia, whose chips are powering much of the world's move into AI. Its stock fell 1.7%. Because it's grown so massive, with a total value topping $3 trillion, it was by far the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500.
The market's main event, though, will arrive on Wednesday, when the Federal Reserve will announce its last move on interest rates for the year. The widespread expectation is that it will cut its main rate for a third straight time, as it tries to give a boost to the slowing job market after getting inflation nearly all the way down to its target of 2%. The question is how much more it will cut rates next year, and Fed officials will release projections for where they see the federal funds rate ending 2025, along with other economic indicators, once their meeting concludes. (More stock market stories.)
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