Stocks edge higher ahead of central bank meetings

Stocks edged higher ahead of big meetings by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank this week.

The central banks could take highly anticipated steps to prop up U.S. and European economies, moves that could jolt equity markets higher.

After a choppy start, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 21 points, or 0.2%, to 13,097 shortly after the opening bell on Wall Street.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 2 points, or 0.2%, to 1,388. The Nasdaq gained 9 points, or 0.3%, to 2,967.

As the U.S. economy has shown more signs of losing steam, speculation has grown that the Fed will increase monetary stimulus. The Fed begins a two-day meeting on Tuesday, which will be followed by a meeting of the European Central Bank on Thursday.

On Friday, the Dow gained 188 points, or 1.5%, surging past 13,000, following reassuring comments by Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank’s president, that the central bank would do whatever it takes to preseve the euro.

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