Stocks opened flat to slightly lower Monday, with the S&P 500 pulling back modestly from a record level as investors await the outcome of a Federal Reserve meeting later this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-0.66%
fell 61 points, or 0.2%, to 34,419. The S&P 500
SPX,
-0.28%
was off 0.1% at 4,243 after ending Friday at a record close, while the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+0.21%
was off less than 0.1% at 14,063. The Fed will conclude a two-day meeting on Wednesday that will be closely watched to see how policy makers are assessing rising inflation and whether they are ready to signal when they will consider scaling back aggressive bond purchases that are the centerpiece of its efforts to boost the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.