Stocks Ended Higher ahead of Fed Meeting

U.S. stocks ended modestly higher on Monday, as investors prepared for a meeting of Federal Reserve policy makers to begin Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 65.23 points, or 0.25%, to 25,914.10. The S&P 500 was up 10.46 points, or 0.37%, to 2,832.94. The Nasdaq Composite gained 25.95 points, or 0.34%, to 7,714.48.

Oil futures gained on Monday, as OPEC and its allies looked set to continue their crude production cuts until June. April West Texas Intermediate crude added 57 cents, or 1%, to settle at $59.09 a barrel. May Brent crude added 38 cents, or 0.6%, to $67.54 a barrel.

The Federal Reserve is expected to leave rates unchanged when it concludes a two-day meeting on Wednesday, but attention will be focused on the statement issued by policy makers, Chairman Jerome Powell’s remarks at a news conference following the meeting and the updated interest-rate forecasts provided by policy makers in the so-called dot plot.