Wall Street treads water ahead of U.S. Fed meeting, data

By Laila Kearney

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street was flat on Monday afternoon as losses in energy shares were offset by consumer discretionary gains and investors laid low ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting.

The Fed is not expected to raise interest rates at the two-day meeting, which begins on Tuesday, but investors will be on the lookout for clues about future hikes.

"If investors are inclined to make a bet, then they're better served by waiting a few days," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago.

Global oil prices fell as much as 4 percent on concerns a six-week market recovery has gone beyond fundamentals.

 

The recent rally in oil prices and data pointing to a strengthening U.S. economy have helped stocks recover from a steep selloff at the start of the year.

The S&P 500 is now down about 1 percent in 2016, after having declined as much as 10.5 percent in mid-February.

Investors are also waiting this week on the release of economic data, including U.S. retail sales.

"There's a lot of information," Ablin said, "I would say information that has the potential to change outlooks."

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 27.12 points, or 0.16 percent, to 17,240.43, the S&P 500 <.SPX> had lost 2.29 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,019.9 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> had added 2.62 points, or 0.06 percent, to 4,751.08.

Eight of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower. The energy sector <.SPNY> fell 0.5 percent. Schlumberger's 2 percent fall and Baker Hughes' 4 percent decline weighed the most on the sector.

The consumer discretionary sector <.SPLRCD> was up 0.4 percent.

McDonald's and Boeing gave the biggest boosts to the Dow.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts was up 8.2 percent at $76.19 after the hotel operator received a takeover offer of $76 per share from a consortium of companies. Marriott , which had been set to take over Starwood, was up 3.5 percent at $71.29.

GW Pharmaceuticals soared as much as 132 percent to $89.11 after the company's experimental cannabis-based drug succeeded in treating children with a rare form of severe epilepsy.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,674 to 1,282, for a 1.31-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 1,414 issues fell and 1,324 advanced for a 1.07-to-1 ratio favouring decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 12 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 38 new highs and 18 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian and Meredith Mazzilli)