Stock Market Close: Stocks Mixed Ahead Of FOMC Meeting

Stocks wavered in a narrow range Monday as many investors sat on the sidelines ahead of next week’s U.S. Federal Reserve rate setting meeting.

At the close markets were mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added just 38.05 points or 0.14%. The S&P 500 was flat, off 0.28 points or 0.01%, and the Nasdaq gave up 15.64 points or 0.19%.

New York Stock Exchange volume was 3.2 billion shares, with 2.26 billion issues advancing and nearly 1 billion declining. Most actives included AT&T (T), Bank of America (BAC) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Investors took a breather Monday with little information to move markets following two weeks of gains. Last week’s lackluster jobs report reinforced hopes for at least a quarter point interest rate reduction at next week’s Federal Open Markets Committee meeting. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell appeared to put the kibosh on hopes for a larger cut during a speech before an economic forum in Switzerland last week.

European bond yields were higher across the board on hopes the European Central Bank would cut rates following remarks by incoming President Christine Lagarde that indicated she would continue to follow easing policy. European shares also benefited from moves in the British Parliament to prevent a no-deal Brexit and positive German export numbers.

At the close, London’s FTSE 100 was off 55.13 or 0.76%, the German DAX rose 23.12 or 0.19% and the French CAC was off 15.04 or 0.27%. Thge pound rose 0.65% against the dollar.

Asian equities moved higher Monday following China’s decision to ease banking requirement ratios, which could free up $126 billion. Chinese shares, however, were dampened by weak trade data, with the Shanghai Composite Index moving just 0.8% higher. Data indicated Chinese imports were lower for the fourth straight month in August, with U.S. exports dropping further as a result of the U.S.-China trade war.

Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.5% higher while the Hang Seng Index and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 were flat.

Crude oil futures traded 2.69% higher. Both gold and silver futures were off, 0.49% and 0.19%, respectively.