NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
U.S. stocks were mixed early Monday as investors geared up for quarterly earnings reports from roughly 30 percent of the Standard & Poor's 500 due this week.
After five minutes of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average (up 11.11 to 10579.40, Charts), the Standard & Poor's 500 (up 0.96 to 1142.51, Charts) index and the Nasdaq composite (down 0.15 to 2123.72, Charts) all traded near breakeven.
So far, quarterly earnings have been mostly upbeat, but stocks have shown little reaction to the good news. The major indexes may also struggle a bit after bumping up against new multi-year highs last week. Early last week, the Dow and S&P 500 closed at 22-month highs and the Nasdaq closed at a 30-month high.
Among Monday's earnings, Schering-Plough (SGP: Research, Estimates) fell after the company reported a smaller-than-expected profit after charges and said 2004 results will be lower than 2003 results.
Reports are due from American Express (AXP: Research, Estimates) during the session Monday and from Altera (ALTR: Research, Estimates), McDonald's (MCD: Research, Estimates) and Texas Instruments (TXN: Research, Estimates) after the close. For an in-depth look at the week's major earnings, click here.
Apart from the latest earnings news, investors this week will likely focus on the Federal Reserve's first interest-rate setting meeting of the year Tuesday and Wednesday, even though the central bank is not expected to change the fed funds rate or its outlook on the economy.
Due out after the open Monday is the report on existing home sales, forecast to have risen modestly to an annual rate of 6.10 million units in December from a 6.06 million unit annual rate last month.
Treasury prices dipped, with the 10-year note yield rising to 4.08 percent from 4.07 percent late Friday. The dollar fell against the euro and the yen.
Brent crude oil futures fell 41 cents to $30.55 a barrel in London. COMEX gold fell 10 cents to $407.90 an ounce.
Asian stocks closed mixed. European markets were weaker at midday.
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