Stocks Opened Slightly Higher ahead of Fed Speakers

U.S. stocks opened slightly higher on Monday as investors braced for a pair of Federal Reserve speakers. Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 14.80 points, or 0.07%, to 22,107.61. TS&P 500 added 1.04 points, or 0.04%, to 2,477.87. The Nasdaq Composite gained 14.34 points, or 0.23%, to 6,365.91.

Oil futures edged down on Monday, on concerns about major oil producers’ wavering commitment to output caps and ahead of a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude futures for delivery in September were recently down 64 cents, or 1.3%, to $49.94 a barrel. October Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures fell 71 cents, or 1.3%, to $51.72 a barrel.

SoftBank Group Corp. Chief Executive Masayoshi Son on Monday expressed eagerness to invest in Uber Technologies Inc. or Lyft Inc. to gain access to the U.S. ride-hailing market after multiple similar investments in Asia.

Elon Musk’s auto manufacturing firm Tesla appears to be in the lead in the “arms race” for lithium-ion batteries, but others may be soon to follow, a former prominent Credit Suisse research head told CNBC on Monday.