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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on October 5, 2015 in New York City.Spencer Platt/Getty Images

U.S. stocks were little changed, after the best week this year for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, as investors awaited further indications on the strength of the world's biggest economy from corporate earnings reports.

The S&P 500 slipped less than 0.1 per cent to 2,014.34 at 9:32 a.m. in New York, after rising 3.3 per cent last week. Trading volumes may be lower today due to the Columbus Day federal holiday.

"As long as earnings are fair or better than the expectations, I think we're going to be OK," said Andrew Brenner, the head of international fixed income for National Alliance Capital Markets. "All of sudden people are saying, well, China's not so bad. Emerging markets are coming back. Oil is coming back. I'm looking for a grind higher."

Earnings at S&P 500 companies are projected to have fallen 7.2 per cent in the third quarter. Energy and materials companies will show the steepest drop, according to analyst forecasts compiled by Bloomberg. Alcoa unofficially kicked off the reporting season on Oct. 8, with sales and profit missing estimates. Some 35 S&P 500 companies are scheduled to report results this week, including Johnson & Johnson, Intel Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Investors are also listening for further hints on the Federal Reserve's policy intentions. Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said the U.S. economy may be strong enough to merit an interest-rate increase by the end of 2015, while noting that policy makers are also considering slower job growth and international developments. Fischer spoke at the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund in Lima on Sunday.

Fed Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart, speaking Monday to a group of economists in Orlando, Florida, repeated his view that he backs the first interest rate increase since 2006 by the end of the year. Chicago Fed's Charles Evans is also due to speak today.

The S&P 500 closed Friday at its highest level since Aug. 20, capping its best week in 2015 after Fed meeting minutes showed caution over raising interest rates even as the economy improves. That helped push expectations for an increase further into next year. Traders are now pricing in about a 40 per cent chance of a rate liftoff in December, with a 62 per cent probability of a March raise.

Concerns over a China-led slowdown in international growth and the central bank's decision last month to not raise borrowing costs jolted investors, with the S&P 500 losing 5.7 per cent in the eight days following the meeting. The benchmark has rallied 4.9 per cent in October as it rebounds from the worst quarter since 2011.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index slipped Friday to its lowest since Aug. 19. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX fell for nine consecutive days, the longest streak in four years.

Canadian markets are closed for Thanksgiving.

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