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Stocks Mostly Up Pre-Bell as Traders Await Fed Meeting Minutes, Retail Earnings

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Stocks Mostly Up Pre-Bell as Traders Await Fed Meeting Minutes, Retail Earnings

The benchmark US stock measures were mostly pointing higher before the opening bell Monday as traders await minutes of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting and the latest quarterly results from some of the biggest retail companies.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and the Nasdaq added 0.6% in premarket activity, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.1%. All three major indexes finished Friday trading in the red.

The Fed is scheduled to post minutes of its July policy meeting Wednesday, which will be assessed for fresh insight on the central bank's monetary policy. At the meeting, policymakers left interest rates unchanged in a divided decision, with three regional presidents calling for policy tightening.

Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics published benign consumer inflation data for July that lowered bets for a Fed interest-rate hike next month. Government data also showed that producer prices held steady last month, defying expectations for a monthly rise.

Markets are currently pricing in a 69% probability that the Fed will keep its benchmark rate steady next month, with the remaining odds in favor of a 25-basis-point hike, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Treasury yields were down in premarket action, with the two-year rate retreating 1.3 basis points to 4.16% and the 10-year rate off 0.8 basis points to 4.69%.

Retail giant Walmart (WMT) is scheduled to release its latest financial results later this week, along with Home Depot (HD), TJX (TJX), Lowe's (LOW), Target (TGT), Ross Stores (ROST) and BJ's Wholesale Club (BJ).

On Friday, official data showed that retail sales unexpectedly decreased in July, registering the largest monthly drop in more than a year.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil increased 0.8% to $83.08 a barrel before the open, while Brent gained 1.2% to $89.61.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reportedly said over the weekend that Iran hasn't decided to resume talks with the US, according to CNBC. Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed over the weekend, with five vessels transiting the crucial waterway on Saturday and none on Sunday, Reuters reported Monday, citing shiptracking data from Kpler.

Monday's economic calendar has the Empire State manufacturing index for August at 8:30 am ET, followed by the housing market index for the same month at 10 am.

Shares of Broadcom (AVGO) rebounded 1.2% pre-bell after closing Friday trading with a 5.9% drop. Micron Technology (MU) advanced 3.4%, while Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) ticked up 1%. Sandisk (SNDK) inclined 5.1%.

Gold nudged 0.3% higher to $4,452 per troy ounce, while bitcoin traded up 0.2% at $63,239.

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