Stocks closed near the flat line Monday afternoon as investors geared up for the Federal Reserve meeting scheduled for later in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrials fought its way into the plus column 6.06 points to finish at 34,624.30.
The S&P 500 index gained 3.21 points to 4,453.53.
The NASDAQ index inched up 1.9 points to 13,710.24.
Apple climbed around 1.7%. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley both gave optimistic outlooks for new iPhone demand.
Meanwhile, Ford slid more than 2% as the United Auto Workers strike continued. Stellantis and General Motors, the other automakers facing off with the union, shed more than 1%.
Traders are assigning a 99% chance that the Fed stays put when it releases its rate decision on Wednesday and just a 31% probability of a hike in November, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, which gauges pricing in the fed funds futures market.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury regained lost strength, lowering yields to 4.31% from Friday's 4.33%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices strengthened $1.18 to $91.95 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices surged $8.50 to $1,954.70 U.S. an ounce.
