Stocks are drifting higher on Wall Street today ahead of a big week for central banks and interest rates around the world, the Associated Press reports.
The S&P 500 was 0.4% higher in afternoon trading, coming off its fourth straight winning week. It had slightly more stocks gaining ground than slipping. Cruise operator Carnival rode a 14.7% upswell as analysts upgraded its stock on signs demand remains steady for the industry and that pricing is holding up.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 61 points, or 0.2%, at 33,938.
Nasdaq fell 13.1% after saying it would buy Adenza, a risk management and regulatory software provider, for $10.5 billion in cash and stock.
The U.S. stock market is near its highest level since April 2022. Traders are betting the Fed will hold rates steady at its next meeting, which concludes on Wednesday.
This week will also see the latest updates on inflation across the economy. On Tuesday, economists expect a report to show prices for consumers were 4.1% higher in May than a year earlier.
The Fed is in a tight spot because any increases to rates would mean more pressure on the U.S. banking system, still absorbing all the past rate increases, which have caused some customers to yank their bank deposits in favor of higher yielding money-market funds.Â
