Thursday, 17 September 2015 20:12
NEW YORK: US stocks drifted sideways early Thursday as markets awaited the Federal Reserve’s decision on whether to increase interest rates for the first time in more than nine years.
Most analysts were betting against a hike, but traders remained fairly cautious ahead of the landmark move that would signal the beginning of the end of the Fed’s easy money stance.
About 35 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 16,737.44, down 2.51 points (0.01 percent).
The broad-based S&P 500 edged up 0.48 (0.02 percent) to 1,995.79, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 5.36 (0.11 percent) to 4,894.60.
General Motors rose 1.0 percent as US prosectors announced a criminal fine of $ 900 million over the automaker’s failure to disclose a deadly ignition defect to regulators. The government agreed not to seek a conviction in exchange for the fine and the appointment of an independent monitor at the company.
Cablevision Systems bolted 15.7 percent higher on news it would be acquired by Luxembourg-based media giant Altice for $ 17.7 billion.
Technology giant Oracle fell 2.2 percent after reporting that first-quarter earnings dropped 19.7 percent to $ 1.75 billion. Oracle cited the strong dollar as a drag on results.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.29 percent from 2.30 percent Wednesday, while the 30-year dropped to 3.07 percent from 3.08 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
