What are today's top business/market headlines?

Here's a roundup of today's top business and market headlines (Monday, September 21, 2026):

Markets & Macro

•US equity-index futures edged higher while oil held its losses as traders awaited details of US-China talks ahead of a summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping later this week, with S&P 500 futures rising 0.3% and Nasdaq 100 contracts climbing 0.4%.

•Following last week's Fed action, investors have priced in more than a 50% chance of another rate hike in October after the Federal Reserve voted unanimously last week to increase rates.

•Monday's calendar is relatively light on headline macro data, with focus on Fed communication (Chicago Fed President Goolsbee speaking at 10:30 AM ET) and the Chicago Fed National Activity Index at 12:30 PM ET, with no major BLS/BEA releases scheduled.

Fed & Rates Backdrop

•Last Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates for the first time in three years and Chairman Kevin Warsh highlighted persistent inflation, with the Dow losing 631.21 points (1.21%) to close at 51,461.90, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.45% to 7,551.81 and the Nasdaq slipped 0.01% to 25,978.42.

•The Fed raised the overnight funds rate by a quarter percentage point in a unanimous decision, bringing the target range to between 3.75% and 4%.

Corporate/Deal News

•A mystery "Company C" made a $25B offer for some assets of Warner Bros.

•Johnson & Johnson is reportedly considering a sale of its orthopedics business.

•Compass's purchase of Anywhere is drawing antitrust scrutiny from senators.

•CNBC reported the NIH director is reportedly being tapped as acting CDC director.

•Robinhood shares fell sharply even as CEO Vlad Tenev said the company remains bullish on crypto while continuing to diversify.

•SpaceX scored another $950 million from NASA for three more crewed flights to the ISS.

AI & Tech Watch

•Anthropic selected Accenture as its first embedded evaluator in a safety push, and AI cloud provider Nscale filed to go public.

•OpenAI's Sora launched in more countries as its monetization push continues.

Geopolitics Weighing on Oil/Markets

•An expected meeting between Gulf states and Iran over the weekend was postponed and the Houthis continued to capture territory, which drove oil higher and kept pressure on equities.

Markets will be closely watching the upcoming Trump-Xi summit on US-China trade talks this week, as well as further Fed commentary given the recent rate hike and expectations for additional tightening.

Citations (12)

1bloomberg.comNews and mediaquality 0.84
Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P Live Updates for September 21 - Bloomberg
Source excerpt: “US equity-index futures edged higher while oil held its losses as traders awaited details of US-China talks ahead of a summit between Presidents Donal...”
2yahoo.comNews and mediaquality 0.69
Yahoo Finance - Stock Market Live, Quotes, Business & Finance News
Source excerpt: “U.S. markets closed ... Investors have priced in more than a 50% chance of another rate hike in October after the Federal Reserve voted unanimously la...”
3strongbuyanalytics.comLow provenance
Stock Market Outlook for Monday, September 21, 2026 | StrongBuyAnalytics
Source excerpt: “- Friday’s primary catalysts were Industrial Production & Capacity Utilization at 9:15 AM ET and Vice Chair Bowman’s 9:30 AM ET speech; Monday’s c...”
4cnbc.comNews and mediaquality 0.85
Stock market today: Live updates
Source excerpt: “The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates for the first time in three years and central bank C...”
5cnbc.comNews and mediaquality 0.85
Stock market today: Live updates
Source excerpt: “In a unanimous decision, the Fed raised the overnight funds rate by a quarter percentage point, bringing the target range to between 3.75% and 4%. ”
6seekingalpha.comNews and mediaquality 0.69
Top Stocks for 2026
Source excerpt: “or By creating an account using any of the options above, you agree to the Terms of Use & Privacy Policy Breaking Stock Market News - All News - AI Te...”
7seekingalpha.comNews and mediaquality 0.69
Concerned About a Bear Market?
Source excerpt: “Johnson & Johnson considering sale of orthopedics business - report Aritzia acquires the Fred Segal brand as it accelerates its U.S. push ATZAF -0.27%...”
8seekingalpha.comNews and mediaquality 0.69
Concerned About a Bear Market?
Source excerpt: “NIH director reportedly being tapped as acting CDC director PFE +0.18%Today, 2:13 PM Elliott Management's ambitious goal for Norwegian Cruise Line fac...”
9seekingalpha.comNews and mediaquality 0.69
Concerned About a Bear Market?
Source excerpt: “Top small-cap industrial stocks surging above 200-Day moving average PSIX +1.34%Today, 12:30 PM Pinterest heads into Q4 results amid ad competition, m...”
10cnbc.comNews and mediaquality 0.85
Stock Markets, Business News, Financials, Earnings - CNBC
Source excerpt: “September 18, 2026The Fed rate hike opens up an opportunity for muni bond investors · September 18, 2026McDonald’s is the new ‘Value Meal,’ says trade...”
11cnbc.comNews and mediaquality 0.85
Stock Markets, Business News, Financials, Earnings - CNBC
Source excerpt: “Here’s how he plans to do it · September 18, 2026Cramer’s week ahead: What to watch as Wall Street navigates a tough September · September 18, 2026Tru...”
12nyse.comCompanies
The New York Stock Exchange | NYSE
Source excerpt: “Unfortunately, the expected meeting between Gulf states and Iran over the weekend was postponed and the Houthis continued to capture territory. That d...”