Stocks Mixed Before FOMC Meets

(Updated with commentary, stock and commodity prices.)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The stock market closed mixed on Monday as commodities headed lower and the dollar strengthened, a day before the Federal Reserve's policy-making committee meets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session down 41.34 points, or 0.4% to 9778.86, while the S&P 500 declined 3.64 points or 0.3%, to 1064.66. The Nasdaq Composite added 4.75 points, or 0.24% to 2138.04.

Stocks started off lower on some profit-taking after the major stock averages posted their greatest weekly gains since July, leaving the S&P 500 more than 20% above its 200-day moving average and prompting Wall Street to rethink valuations. But some observers say it's "more of the same."

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"Yes, we're overbought, no doubt about it," says Jeffrey Saut, chief market strategist for Raymond James. "But markets can stay overbought, especially coming off the base we came off in terms of being oversold."

Moreover, says Saut, "Most of the pros have underplayed and underinvested and are sitting on too much cash as they come to the fiscal year end, and they have not only performance risk, but they have bonus risk and ultimately job risk -- and that's why corrections have been short and shallow."

It's "more of the same," agrees Charles Rotblut, senior market analyst with Zacks Investment Research. "We've had a nice run in the markets and there's not a lot of positive news [today], but the losses are pretty modest and it's really just a matter of some profit- taking."

Commodities were at the heart of the day's early weakness as the dollar strengthened against the euro and the British pound. Crude oil , which had topped $72 a barrel, settled down 23 cents at $69.48, while gold staged an intraday rebound, ending the session up 20 cents at $1,004.90 after earlier dipping below $1,000 an ounce.