NEW YORK - Wall Street drifted Monday ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting that could provide clues about when interest rates will be increased. <br>
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Stocks were narrowly mixed as investors waited to see what the central bank would say Tuesday about the economy before making any big moves. <br>
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By late morning, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 14.46, or 0.1 percent, at 10,592.77. <br>
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Broader stock indicators were mixed. The technology-centered Nasdaq composite index gained 8.72, or 0.5 percent, to 1,877.02. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was off 1.18, or 0.1 percent, at 1,164.98. <br>
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This week's Federal Reserve meeting is also being closely watched for hints as to when interest rates will start to go higher. The Fed, which cut rates 11 times last year to stimulate growth, is expected to begin boosting them later this year as signs increase that business is rebounding. <br>
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"The market's going to be in a little bit of a holding atmosphere as we await the Fed meeting even though the outcome should be as expected, which is no interest rate increase," said Barry Hyman, chief investment strategist at Ehrenkrantz King Nussbaum. <br>
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Hewlett-Packard advanced 46 cents to $19.51 ahead of a shareholder vote Tuesday on its plan to merge with Compaq, which was up 12 cents at $10.45. The vote is considered too close to call. <br>
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Qwest Communications International rose 84 cents to $9.52 on news it repaid $608 million of its $4 billion unsecured bank credit. <br>
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Financial stocks were another focus, reflecting the belief that the sector will do well as the economy improves. Citigroup gained 35 cents to $50.04. <br>
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Two brokerage firms expected to report earnings this week were mixed. Goldman Sachs fell 73 cents to $89.27, while Lehman Brothers rose 16 cents to $65.24. <br>
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Pharmaceuticals also dropped. Merck fell 61 cents to $59.14. <br>
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Stocks have been edging higher all month, helped by a steady stream of good economic news and Wall Street's growing hopes that the recession that began last year is over. Still, the gains have slowed in recent sessions as investors try to figure out whether earnings growth will be strong enough to justify what have become, in some cases, expensive stock prices. <br>
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The approach of first quarter earnings season next month should help settle the issue, but until then most analysts expect gains to be tentative. <br>
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Advancing issues led decliners 5 to 4 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume came to 347.24 million shares, compared with 614.17 million at the same point Friday. Trading was unusually heavy Friday because of the expiration of some futures and options. <br>
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The Russell 2000 index was up 0.66 at 499.78. <br>
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Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 1.3 percent. In afternoon trading, Germany's DAX index advanced 1.0 percent, Britain's FT-SE 100 was up 0.3 percent, and France's CAC-40 was up 1.2 percent. <br>