U.S. stocks waver ahead of Fischer's speech

U.S. stocks wavered around the flatline on Monday, as investors awaited speech from the U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 17.11 points, or 0.09 percent, to 18,121.27. The S&P 500 lost 2.16 points, or 0.10 percent, to 2,130.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 4.09 points, or 0.08 percent, to 5,210.07.

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 ticked down 0.38 percent to 15.94 U.S. dollars apiece around midday trading.

On the economic front, U.S. industrial production edged up 0.1 percent in September after falling 0.5 percent in August, announced the Federal Reserve Monday.

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