Opening Comment — Monday, September 15, 2025
DJIA: 45,834.22, down 273.78
S&P 500: 6,584.29, down 3.18
NASDAQ: 22,141.10, up 98.03
Stocks higher to start off week
Stock futures are higher Monday morning ahead of today’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey. Investors are awaiting this week’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on September 16–17, with futures markets broadly expecting the Federal Reserve (Fed) to cut their policy rate by 25 basis points (0.25%). Other key releases this week include retail sales, industrial production, and housing market data. As of 7:19 AM ET, the Dow and the S&P 500 Index are both rising 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 0.1% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were mixed on Friday as the University of Michigan’s preliminary consumer sentiment index for September declined more than anticipated, while inflation expectations held steady at 4.8% for the one-year outlook and edged up to 3.9% for the 5-to-10-year horizon. The Dow was down 0.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.1% with seven of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Consumer Discretionary sector was the top performer, rising 0.6%, while the Health Care sector was the bottom performer, falling 1.1%.
On the data front, the New York Fed will release September’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey, with the headline general business conditions index expected to come in at positive 5.0, down from the prior month’s positive 11.9.
Across the pond, European stocks are mostly higher in mid-day trading as Rightmove’s measure of British house prices for September increased by 0.4% month-over-month (MOM) and decreased by 0.1% year-over-year (YOY). The eurozone’s trade surplus widened significantly less than expected in July.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly lower as China’s retail sales and industrial production rose 3.4% and 5.2% YOY in August, respectively, though both increases came in below expectations.
In FOREX trading, the dollar is lower ahead of this week’s FOMC meeting on Wednesday. Investors are also watching policy decisions from central banks in Canada, England, Norway, and Japan.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 0.3% higher at $62.89/barrel following Ukraine targeting Russian refineries.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.1% lower at $3,653.00/ounce despite a weakening dollar.
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