US stocks open higher and gold tops $5,000 an ounce

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks opened with modest gains Monday, as earnings season kicks into a higher gear and investors eye the next policy meeting of the Federal Reserve

The S&P 500 rose 0.4%. The index is coming off its second weekly loss in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 184 points, or 0.4%, as of 9:45 a.m. ET. The Nasdaq added 0.3%.

The major airlines were slightly lower in early trading after thousands of flights were canceled due to a massive winter storm that affected travel from the Rockies all the way to the East Coast. Delta and United each fell 1.2%.

USA Rare Earth, an Oklahoma-based miner of critical minerals, became the latest company to get a boost from an investment by the U.S. government. Shares rose 25%.

Gold gained another 2%, and topped $5,000 an ounce for the first time, while silver jumped 8.6% to around $110 per ounce. The value of precious metals has surged in recent months as investors sought relatively safe places to invest amid rising geopolitical uncertainty.

Natural gas futures climbed another 2.2% as cold weather set in across the country following the winter storm that dumped more than a foot of snow in places and left many without power.

Investors will also be paying close attention to the latest developments at the U.S. Federal Reserve, where officials meet this week to decide where to take interest rates. Most expect central bank officials to stand pat after they cut rates at the final three meetings of 2025.

Markets this week will be focused on corporate earnings, some of which might show the negative effects from recent U.S. tariff policies.

This week will feature the latest financial results from United Airlines, Boeing, General Motors, Meta, Microsoft and Apple.

Markets in Europe showed small gains. In Asia, Japan’s benchmark took a tumble after the yen rebounded against the U.S. dollar on rumors of possible government intervention. The Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.8%.

The Japanese yen has been weakening against the U.S. dollar, and many other major currencies, since 2021. So Japanese consumers and companies pay more now for imported food, fuel and other items needed to keep the world’s fourth largest economy running.

The dollar slipped to 153.83 Japanese yen from 155.01 yen. It had been trading around 158 yen last week.