U.S. stocks in New York opened higher on the 16th (local time).
On the New York stock market that day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened at 45,919.54, up 36.1 points (0.08%) from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index opened at 6,624.13, up 8.9 points (0.13%), and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite opened at 22,397.498, up 48.7 points (0.22%).
Investors are focusing on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting of the Federal Reserve (Fed) that runs for two days starting that day. According to CME Group's FedWatch, participants in the U.S. federal funds rate (ff) futures market see a 100% probability of a rate cut at this meeting.
Expectations for a rate cut are strengthening risk appetite. Oracle, a U.S. databases infrastructure corporations, rose more than 3% the previous day on hopes of acquiring TikTok and is up about 4% that day as well. Tesla extended gains of 1.6% despite news that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating a door handle defect in the 2021 Model Y.
A stronger-than-expected August retail sales reading also helped lift stocks. The U.S. Department of Commerce said August retail sales rose 0.6% from the prior month to $723 billion. The increase beat the 0.3% forecast compiled by Dow Jones. The department also revised the previous July retail sales growth to 0.6% from 0.5%.