S&P 500 Opens Higher, Reclaims 7,600 With a 71-Point Gain
As seen on the 24/7 Wall St. homepage on September 17, 2026.
- S&P 500+0.94%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average—
- Nasdaq Composite—
A 71-point gain at the bell puts the S&P 500 back above 7,600, and buyers are showing up before the Fed's next move is priced in. Openings this strong rarely stay quiet by midday.
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The S&P 500 opened at 7,623 on September 17, 2026, a gain of nearly 71 points from the prior close. That move pushes the index back above the 7,600 level it had slipped under in the previous session, restoring a threshold that had drawn attention during the recent pullback.
The index had been grinding lower from highs near 7,747 over the preceding two weeks, so this morning's advance interrupts a steady drift downward. A strong open after that kind of slide can signal that buyers are willing to step in at current levels rather than wait for further weakness.
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The open comes ahead of the Fed's next policy move being priced in, which gives the timing added weight. Buyers showing conviction before a major catalyst tends to reflect deliberate repositioning.
The roughly 0.94% gain at the bell is meaningful in size but the session is young. Opens of this strength have a history of attracting follow-through buying or profit-taking into midday as traders reassess whether the catalyst justifies holding into the afternoon. How the index holds 7,600 through the first hour is the key level to track.