US Stocks Open Mixed After Holiday
Wall Street opened trading on Tuesday (February 17th) with mixed results after the Presidents' Day holiday. Index movements tended to be slight: the Dow Jones Industrial Average remained in the green, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq traded slightly lower, indicating that investors were entering this "short" week with a more defensive stance.
The market mood remained clouded by last week's correction, when concerns about AI disruption weighed on growth-focused stocks—particularly technology. Investors began to question whether the massive spending on AI infrastructure would truly yield commensurate returns, especially after the emergence of new models sparked concerns about changing the competitive landscape across various industries.
The focus then shifted to this week's series of catalysts: the Fed's meeting minutes (FOMC Minutes) and the central bank's favorite inflation data, the PCE, which could potentially alter expectations about the interest rate path. At the same time, the market was also monitoring further economic reports (including growth figures) and the remaining releases of company performance during the earnings season.
With global liquidity still affected by the holiday season (parts of Asia were in the Lunar New Year period), market participants tended to take small steps while waiting for the next "big trigger." As a result, this mixed opening has the potential to continue into a volatile session—especially if data or comments from central bank officials trigger a sudden repricing.
Source: Newsmaker.id
