Stocks stay put after late selling

A listless day on Wall Street ended Monday with major indexes closing little changed as modest gains from earlier in the afternoon faded in the final minutes of trading.

The S&P 500 index slipped less than 0.1%, while the Nasdaq inched 0.1% lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average notched a 0.1% gain. The stock indexes spent most of the afternoon holding on to slight gains following a wobbly morning in the market as investors digested some weak economic figures out of Germany.

Losses in the health care, communication services and industrial sectors outweighed gains in technology stocks, consumer-centric companies and banks. Bond yields declined, a sign that investors were seeking to avoid some risk.

Even so, Monday was a relatively quiet day for stocks after last week, when the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates again and fresh jitters over the next round of negotiations in the trade conflict between the U.S. and China helped give the S&P 500 its first week of losses following three straight gains.

The major indexes are each up modestly for the month and the quarter. The benchmark S&P 500 index remains close to its all-time high set in late July.

Bond prices rose, pulling down the yield on 10-year Treasury notes to 1.72% from 1.75% late Friday.

Several companies could provide a clearer picture this week of the impact that the trade dispute is having on their business.

Nike, which could be a gauge of the trade war's effect on shoemakers and retailers, will report fiscal first quarter results Tuesday. Technology company Micron will report its fiscal fourth quarter results on Thursday.