U.S. stocks open mostly flat ahead of Fischer's speech

U.S. stocks opened nearly flat on Monday, as investors awaited speech from U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer.

Fischer is expected to deliver remarks at the Economic Club of New York later Monday. Investors are looking for more hints on the timing of a next interest rate hike.

Meanwhile, Wall Street still meditated on the remarks from Fed Chair Janet Yellen.

Yellen said Friday that the Fed may need to run a "high-pressure economy" to reverse damage from the crisis that depressed output, sidelined workers and risks becoming a permanent scar, according to Reuters.

Though not addressing interest rates or immediate policy concerns directly, Yellen laid out the deepening concern at the Fed that U.S. economic potential is slipping and may need aggressive steps to rebuild it.

In corporate news, Bank of America on Monday reported quarterly net income of 5.0 billion U.S. dollars, or 41 cents per diluted share, beating analysts' estimates.

Revenues for the giant commercial bank came in at 21.6 billion dollars. Its shares rose 0.53 percent to 16.08 dollars apiece in the early trading.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 21.30 points, or 0.12 percent, to 18,159.68. The S&P 500 rose 2.21 points, or 0.10 percent, to 2,135.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index ticked up 0.62 points, or 0.01 percent, to 5,214.79.

U.S. stocks wavered and closed lower last week, as investors digested the Fed's minutes from its September meeting amid mixed earnings. Endi