S&P 500 Index opens modestly lower, holds above 4,200

• Wall Street's main indexes opened in the negative territory.
• Energy stocks post strong gains on rising crude oil prices.

Major equity indexes in the US opened in the negative territory on Monday as investors seem to be staying on the sidelines ahead of FOMC's critical monetary policy announcements on Wednesday.

As of writing, the S&P 500 is down 0.15% on the day at 4,240, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is losing 0.27% at 34,385 and the Nasdaq Composite is falling 0.08% 13,987.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the Energy Index is rising 0.77% supported by rising crude oil prices. At the moment, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is trading at its strongest level since October 2018 at $71.60, up 1.15% on a daily basis. On the other hand, the Materials Index is losing 0.62% as the biggest percentage loser after the opening bell.

S&P 500 chart (daily)