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U.S. stocks closed mixed Monday, with the Nasdaq Composite Index suffering a hit ahead of Chinese e- commerce giant Alibaba's scheduled initial public offering later this week, as investors are awaiting the results of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 43.63 points, or 0.26 percent, to 17,031.14. The S&P 500 lost 1.41 points, or 0.07 percent, to 1,984.13. The Nasdaq fell 48.70 points, or 1.07 percent, to 4,518.90.
U.S. stocks snapped a five-week winning streak last week on concerns that the U.S. central bank may hint at an earlier-than- expected interest rate increase at its upcoming meeting scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, to be followed by Fed Chair Janet Yellen's press conference and the latest economic projections.
Some economists had discussed the possibility that the Fed may drop the language of "considerable time" from the end of the Fed's asset purchasing program to the first rate increase. A slightly hawkish tone from the Fed may spook the market and trigger selloff.
The tech-rich Nasdaq underperformed the other two indices as some investors were repositioning, selling momentum stocks to make room for Alibaba which is expected to price the record-breaking IPO on Thursday and begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange the following day under the ticker symbol "BABA."
After the closing bell, the company unveiled its amended prospectus in which it raised its IPO price range to 66 to 68 dollars per share from 60 to 66 dollars per share previously filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Sept. 5.
On the economic front, the U.S. industrial production index edged down 0.1 percent in August, marking the first monthly decline since January, reported the Fed. Analysts had expected the index to increase 0.3 percent.
Moreover, manufacturing activity in the New York region expanded at the fastest pace in nearly five years, said the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday. Data showed the Empire State general business conditions index for September rose 13 points to 27.5, the highest since late 2009, topping analysts' expectations.
The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, rallied 6.09 percent to end at 14.12 on Monday.
In other markets, U.S. crude price advanced Monday ahead of the Fed's meeting. Light, sweet crude for October delivery moved up 65 cents to settle at 92.92 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for October delivery lost 46 cents to close at 96.65 dollars a barrel.
Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange went up Monday, snapping a five-session losing streak, with the most active gold contract for December delivery rising 3. 6 dollars, or 0.29 percent, to settle at 1,235.1 dollars per ounce.
The U.S. dollar strengthened against most major currencies Monday on expectations that the Fed will give some clues about the timing of normalizing interest rates this week.
In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.2937 dollars from 1.2948 dollars of the previous session, and the dollar bought 107. 20 Japanese yen, lower than 107.32 yen of the previous session.
