Peter Nurse   

Investing.com reports that U.S. stock prices opened lower on Monday. This is due to investors being cautious at the beginning of a week which includes the official employment report.

The contract traded at 7.05 AM ET (11105 GMT), down 110 points or 0.3%. 16 points were also traded, or 0.4% less, and 80 points dropped, or 0.6%, respectively.

The major indices started the new month strongly on Friday, helped by Merck’s news of positive results for its oral Covid-19 treatment, boosting stocks associated with the reopening. The blue chip gained 500 points or 1.4% while the broad-based rose 1.2%. While the climbed 0.8%, the broad-based jumped 1.2%.

However, September proved to be a difficult month for equity investors, who were worried about rising interest rates, high inflation and a possible Federal Reserve tapering.

Friday sees the release of the closely watched release, which could influence the Fed’s decision on when to taper its bond-buying program.

The September report will show that 488,000 new jobs were expected. That’s a big increase on the August 235,000 payrolls.

Tesla (NASDAQ:) will feature in corporate news after it reported a 73% rise in electric vehicle deliveries during the third quarter. It is still on track to achieve ambitious full-year goals despite the worldwide shortage of semiconductor chips.

3M Company (NYSE 🙂 is also in the spotlight after it was charged with $8.2million in a case over its combat earplugs. This verdict, which represents the largest mass tort lawsuit against 3M Company over that product, will put the focus on the company.

Crude prices rose in anticipation of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting and its allies headed by Russia. The next meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) will be held later Monday.

OPEC+ faces pressure from a variety of countries including India and the United States, which are the biggest and third-largest consumers in the world, respectively to increase production and lower prices.

Reuters reports that the group will likely stick with the agreement to increase oil production by 400,000 barrels per hour in November. This was cited from three OPEC+ sources.

At 7:05 AM ET futures had traded 0.1% higher to $75.94/barrel, and the contract rose 0.2%, reaching $79.44

The price fell 0.6% to $1748.25/oz and edged 0.1% to 1.1610