U.S. stocks wavered and ended mixed on Monday, as Wall Street mainly awaited a possible interest rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 21.50 points, or 0.10 percent, to 20,881.48.
The S&P 500 rose 0.87 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,373.47.
The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 14.06 points, or 0.24 percent, to 5,875.78.
Traders generally anticipated the Federal Open Market Committee to raise interest rates at the conclusion of its two-day monetary policy meeting later this week. Market expectations for a March rate hike were around 95.2 percent, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
"This Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Bank is expected to raise the fed funds rate to a range of 0.75 percent to 1 percent. They might even say that it's written in stone after February's rather strong employment data," said Stephen Guilfoyle, the president of Sarge986 LLC.
U.S. total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 235,000 in February, well above market consensus of 188,000, the Labor Department announced Friday.
The unemployment rate was little changed at 4.7 percent. After Friday's jobs report, market expectations for a March rate hike sharply increased.
The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, decreased 2.66 percent to end at 11.35 on Monday. U.S. stocks wavered in a tight range for the last week, as Wall Street assessed the possibility of a March rate hike amid economic data.
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