Stocks Opened Lower on Rate Fears

U.S. stocks opened lower on Monday, as investors continued to weigh mixed messages from Federal Reserve speakers on the timing of the next interest-rate hike and the sharp decline in oil prices weighed on energy companies’ shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 13.36 points, or 0.074%, to 18,072.09. The S&P 500 was up 0.13 point, or 0.01%, to 2,127.94. The Nasdaq Composite gained 2.64 point, or 0.05%, to 5,128.55.

Traders were waiting for a speech by Fed dove Lael Brainard later in the day, hoping she could dispel concerns a rate increase is imminent.

Oil prices pulled back Monday amid receding hopes for a production freeze deal and a broad perception that last week’s significant drop in U.S. crude inventories was unlikely to be sustained. The November contract for global crude benchmark Brent was down 1.4% at $47.34 a barrel, while its U.S. counterpart West Texas Intermediate was down 1.66% at $45.13 for October deliveries.

The global economy is at an “inflection point” that could mark the end of a roughly three-and-a-half-decade bond rally while creating intense heartburn for politicians and other economic policy makers, Deutsche Bank analysts said Friday in a report.

Samsung Electronics Co. SSNHZ 0.00 % nominated Lee Jae-yong, the son of its longtime chairman, to its board of directors as shares in the technology titan suffered their steepest one-day decline since 2008 in the wake of a global phone recall.

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