Stock Market Today: Dow closes higher as inflation data, Fed meeting eyed
Investing.com — The Dow closed higher on Monday, extending recent gains as investors looked ahead to a crucial week of market-moving events including fresh inflation data and the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting slated for Tuesday.
By 16:00 ET (21:00 GMT), the benchmark S&P 500 was up 0.3% and 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.43%, 157 points, with both indexes notching an intraday high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.20%.
The Federal Open Market Committee is tipped to hold rates at their current range of 5.25% to 5.50% on Wednesday. Much of the focus will likely be the Fed's projections for the economy, inflation, and the number of cuts expected next year.
The meeting will arrived on the heels on fresh consumer inflation data expected to show ongoing slowing in price pressures.
Comments from Fed chair Jerome Powell will also be garnered for a potential push back on market expectations for a sooner rather than later rate cut.
In the wake of last week's jobs data and separate numbers showing the slowest annual rise in underlying price gains in two years in October, markets are now pricing in a nearly 50% chance of a quarter-point rate decrease in borrowing costs as soon as May, according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
U.S. health insurer Cigna (NYSE:CI) has ended its drive to acquire peer Humana (NYSE:HUM), according to multiple media reports, pulling the plug on a deal that would have created an insurance behemoth worth over $140 billion.
The reports said neither Cigna nor Humana could agree on a price, while regulatory concerns and a fall in their share prices are also believed to have soured sentiment for a deal.
The abandoned talks come as Connecticut-based Cigna announced that it is
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