NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Falling oil prices and upbeat corporate news boosted stocks early Monday, ahead of a busy week for investors.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 18.55 to 10,211.06, Charts), the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (up 2.92 to 1,159.77, Charts) index and the Nasdaq composite (up 7.22 to 1,928.87, Charts) all gained in the early going.

Helping foster an early advance was the price of oil, which slipped nearly 1 percent amid higher U.S. crude stocks and OPEC supply. U.S. light crude for June delivery fell 33 cents to $49.39 a barrel.

But countering that was some hesitation ahead of the first big event for the markets this week, Tuesday's Federal Reserve policy-setting meeting.

The central bank is meeting Tuesday to discuss monetary policy and is widely-expected to boost short-term interest rates by a quarter-percentage point to 3 percent.

However, investors will be more attuned to what the bankers say in the statement.

So far, the Fed has pledged to raise rates at a measured pace, but there are questions about whether it will switch its language to imply a slower pace -- due to recent weak economic news. There is also the possibility that the language could change to indicate a faster pace of growth, due to still-present inflationary trends.

Stocks rallied Friday after oil prices slumped nearly 4 percent. However, Friday was the exception, with April in general a very weak month for stocks.

Among the stock movers Monday, Verizon Communications (up $0.35 to $36.15, Research) moved higher after MCI (up $0.02 to $26.55, Research) said that Verizon's sweetened bid is superior to the previously recommended one from Qwest Communications (up $0.08 to $3.50, Research). This event marks the latest chapter in the ongoing battle over the long-distance provider.

Treasury prices inched higher, lowering the 10-year note yield to 4.19 percent from 4.20 percent late Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar inched higher versus the yen and was little changed versus the euro.

COMEX gold fell $2.60 to $433.50 an ounce.

In global trade, Asian markets ended lower and European shares gained at midday.