Investing.com -- The U.S. stock market reopened after the long weekend with a whimper, as sobering comments from the Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester grabbed attention while traders waited for news of progress on trade talks with China.
At 09.35 AM ET, the S&P 500 was down 3.9 points or 0.1% at 2771.68, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 16.04 points or 0.1% at 25,687.21. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 was up 1.78 points, essentially unchanged from Friday’s close.
"Monetary policy does not appear to be far behind or far ahead of the curve," Mester told an event at the University of Delaware.
Her comments filled a vacuum as participants wait for news from the latest round of U.S.-China trade talks which begins today.
They came less than a week after a surprisingly weak retail sales report for January that raised concerns about the strength of the U.S. consumer. However, there was better news on that front at a company level Tuesday as Walmart (NYSE:WMT) reported earnings well ahead of expectations in the three months through January. It also upheld its existing guidance for its fiscal 2020 year.
Walmart led the market higher at the opening, rising 3.1% to $103.43. Rival Target (NYSE:TGT)also ticked up 1.4%, while medical device maker Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) also rose 1.4% after a strong quarterly report.
Elsewhere, McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) opened 0.6% higher after an upgrade from brokerage Stephens, while Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) opened 0.6% lower after a U.K. parliamentary report sharply criticized it and called for new regulation.