Dow Can't Close 10,000 Deal

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Wall Street ultimately took a breather Monday ahead of an earnings onslaught after the major averages advanced more than 4% last week.

After reaching a new intraday high for the year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 20.86 points, or 0.2%, to 9885.80, its highest close since Oct. 6, 2008. So far, the index is up 1.79% for the month. It's now up 51% from its 12-year close low of 6547.05 hit on March 9.

The S&P 500 tacked on 4.69 points, or 0.4%, to 1076.18 Monday, while the Nasdaq fell 0.14 points, or 0.01%, to 2139.14.

Crude oil futures rose $1.50 to $73.27 a barrel, propping up energy stocks, and gold advanced $8.90 to $1,057.50 an ounce as the dollar lost ground vs. the yen and euro. But the focus was on impending earnings.

Stock Wrap: The Real Story: October 12

"Look for volatility to increase rapidly as earnings reports hit the newswires," writes Alan Farley, private trader and publisher of Hard Right Edge, and a RealMoney contributor. "Bull and bears are evenly matched right here, with both sides willing to take aggressive bets based on short-term data flow. This conflict is likely to trigger a 'gap-and-trap' environment, in which opening reversals undermine traders looking for consistent trends from session to session."

Earnings impressed early in the new week with Philips Electronics(PHG Quote), the biggest consumer-electronics maker in Europe, reporting a surprise third-quarter profit of 174 million euros ($256.1 million) from 57 million euros a year earlier. Shares rose 7.6% to $27.01.