Opening Comment — Monday, September 14, 2026
DJIA: 52,573.29, up 509.19
S&P 500: 7,656.98, up 65.28
NASDAQ: 26,333.04, up 251.32
Stocks lower to start off week
Stock futures are lower Monday morning as investors assess the impact of artificial intelligence safety concerns on investment and adoption. Markets are also contending with higher oil prices following the closure of Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline. Later in the week, investors will watch for Wednesday's Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting, along with data on August’s retail sales and industrial production on Wednesday and Friday, respectively. As of 7:15 AM ET, the Dow is decreasing 0.2%, while the S&P 500 is down 0.6%. The Nasdaq 100 is falling 1.5% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were higher on Friday as August's headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) came in as expected, rising 0.4% month-over-month (MOM), while annual inflation remained unchanged at 3.4% year-over-year (YOY). Meanwhile, core CPI accelerated to 0.3% MOM, above expectations, while the annual core inflation rate eased to 2.4% YOY as expected. The University of Michigan’s preliminary consumer sentiment index for September declined more than expected, while inflation expectations rose to 4.6% for the one-year outlook and edged up to 3.4% over the five-to-ten-year horizon. The Dow was up 1.0%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also rose 1.0%. The S&P 500 increased 0.9% with nine of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Communication Services sector was the top performer, rising 1.4%, while the Utilities sector was the bottom performer, falling 0.3%.
Across the pond, European stocks are mostly lower in mid-day trading as investors are looking ahead to tomorrow’s U.K. labor market data and German ZEW Economic Sentiment Index for September.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed as Japan’s finalized reading of July industrial production was revised downward to show a decline of 0.2% MOM, bringing YOY growth down to 3.9%. The country’s July capacity utilization also decelerated sharply to 0.5% MOM.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is higher ahead of this week’s central bank meetings, with policy decisions from the Fed on Wednesday, the Bank of England on Thursday, and the Bank of Japan on Friday.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 2.3% higher at $102.34/barrel.
In the metals complex, gold is 1.3% lower at $4,290.95/ounce following a strengthening U.S. dollar.