U.S. stocks closed mostly lower on Monday after a profit warning from Ford Motor Co., and U.S. Treasury bond prices benefited from some safe-haven buying and short-covering.
The price of oil rose, and the U.S. dollar weakened, sending gold prices higher.
"Ford pre-announced after the close on Friday and that pulled that whole group down, but I don't think that's any big surprise, given what GM's been saying," said Todd Clark, head of listed trading at Wells Fargo Securities.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 12.78 points, or 0.12 percent, at 10,448.56. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up just 0.01 of a point, or 0.00 percent, to end at 1,181.21. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 7.23 points, or 0.36 percent, to finish at 1,992.12.
"All we've really been doing is going sideways," said Paul Cherney, chief market analyst at Standard & Poor's. "There's a little bit of caution ahead of tomorrow's FOMC minutes."
The minutes from the March 22nd Federal Open Market Committee's rate-setting meeting are expected to be released on Tuesday and investors will be watching for any hints of more aggressive interest-rate hikes.
Rates have been increased seven times since June.
Ford, the second largest U.S. automaker, slid 5 percent, or 59 cents, to $10.44 after it cut its 2005 earnings forecast late on Friday and warned it no longer expected to reach its 2006 profit goal.
Shares of General Motors Corp., a Dow component that cut its 2005 earnings forecast last month, also fell, down 25 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $29.25.