Wall Street opens in the red as traders eye Fed

The main indices on Wall Street opened in negative territory on Monday morning as investors seemed content to keep their powder dry ahead of the Fed meeting later this week. Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.17% at 34,419, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.11% to 4,242 and the Nasdaq fell 0.03% to 14,065. Meanwhile, shares in Tesla managed a slightly positive start to the week, rising 0.4% to US$612.15 in early trading following Elon Musk’s plans to allow the company to accept Bitcoin payments again once the mining process for the digital currency used at least 50% clean energy. Bitcoin itself also received a bump, rising 12.7% over the last 24 hours to US$40,569. 7:50am: Wall Street heads for a mixed start Wall Street is expected to open on a mixed footing on Monday as traders search for direction ahead of the Fed meeting on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has been called 15 points lower at 34,342, but the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are expected to add 2 points to 4,238 and 47 points to 14,032 respectively. Traders are waiting for the Fed’s announcement to see if it will follow the ECB’s dovish stance expressed last week, with the prospect of cheaper money for longer and a steady flow of stimulus keeping equities underpinned. “Investors will be scrutinising the announcement and pursuant press conference for any signs the Fed is pivoting away from its stance that the current spike in inflation is temporary,” said Sophie Griffiths, analyst at OANDA. “Equity markets are broadly buying into the Fed’s mantra that the rise in inflation is transitory. Any sign that central banks are looking to rein in monetary policy could spook investors. Clearly, no central bank is thinking of hiking interest rates just yet. However, the time to start reducing bond purchases could be approaching.” Four things to watch for on Monday: Firms reporting earnings at the start of the week include engineering group Argan Inc (NYSE:AGX), Concrete Pumping Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:BBCP) and car parts firm Motorcar Parts of America Inc (NASDAQ:MPAA) There may be interest in some major AGMs getting underway today from car giant General Motors Co (NYSE:GM) and video game giant Activision Blizzard Inc (NASDAQ:ATVI) Meanwhile, Bitcoin and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) will be in focus after Elon Musk tweeted that the car maker will accept payments in the crypto once mining is performed with 50% clean energy On the macro front, the diary is a little thin however investors may be interested in the latest US consumer inflation expectations data