U.S. stocks open higher after closing down last week

U.S. stocks opened higher on Monday, rebounding from heavy losses last Friday, as investors continued to digest the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rate unchanged.

Wall Street suffered big losses Friday, as the Fed's decision to leave interest rates near zero triggered increasing concerns about a slowdown in global growth.

"Such is the 'hypothetical' cost of uncertainty. Today, at least is a new day," said Stephen Guilfoyle, managing director at Deep Value, on Monday.

According to the central bank' s statement Thursday, the Federal Open Market Committee will assess both realized and expected progress toward its objective of maximum employment and 2 percent inflation in its consideration of when to raise the benchmark interest rate.

Investors will focus on the next Fed meeting on Oct. 27-28, as most Fed officials still expect a first rate hike this year. Analysts said markets might see some volatility this week.

On the economic front, August existing home sales data is due out later on Monday.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 95.10 points, or 0.58 percent, to 16,479.68. The S&P 500 gained 9.84 points, or 0.50 percent, to 1,967.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 25.25 points, or 0.52 percent, to 4,852.48. Endi