Stocks Tread Water at Bell

Stocks jogged in place at the open as investors awaited smoke signals from the latest Fed meeting. The Dow inched up15 points, while the Nasdaq and S&P added 0.1% and 0.4% respectively, the Wall Street Journal reports. Investors are also awaiting President Bush’s auto rescue plan, the promise of which sent stocks into positive territory on Friday.

“With a decision yet to be firmed up on the auto sector and the Fed decision Tuesday, investors are reluctant to make a great deal of change,” said one trader. The New York manufacturing index, meanwhile, dropped to its lowest mark on record. Oil prices rose sharply to nearly $49 per barrel, while the yield on the three-month T-bill fell to a miserly 0.01%. (More stock market stories.)