S&P 500 flirts with record high as investors await Fed decision

• The S&P 500 hovered near a record high Monday as investors bet on continued growth and await a key Fed decision out this week.
• Stocks have been aided in recent days by a fall in bond yields. The US 10-yr was flat Monday morning.
  
• Bitcoin rallied above $39,000 after Elon Musk tweeted about Tesla and payments.

US stocks opened mixed Monday morning as the S&P 500 flirted with a record high. Investors are eagerly awaiting for signals from the US Federal Reserve later this week about a timetable for scaling back ultra-accommodative policies. The decision is due Wednesday, with most economists anticipating the central bank will leave its policy mostly unchanged.

"With stocks at or near record highs, economic data and the outcome of the Fed's FOMC meeting on Wednesday will be a primary focus this week," said Oppenheimer's John Stolztfus.

"In our view the risk of inflation that would prove to be stickier than most folks expect lies less with Fed policy than it does with fiscal policy and stimulus programs that are being considered and could come from Capitol Hill and the Administration's efforts," the chief investment strategist added.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 9:30 a.m. ET open on tk:

• S&P 500: 4,240.89, down 0.16%
• Dow Jones industrial average: 34,396.08, down 0.24% (83.52 points)
• Nasdaq composite: 14,069.12, down 0.01%

Stocks have been aided in recent days by a fall in bond yields, driven by ongoing support from Fed policymakers and by investors betting that the sharp rise in inflation in April and May will prove transitory.

Yields - which move inversely to prices - fell sharply over the course of last week, as bonds had their best week in a year. Yet the yield on the key 10-year US Treasury note was roughly flat on Monday at 1.472% as the rally paused.

Bitcoin came close to $40,000 after Elon Musk suggested in a tweet that Tesla will resume cryptocurrency payments. Musk said he'll allow it when there's proof of about 50% of clean mining energy usage.

Lordstown Motors slumped 15% in early morning trading after two top executives announced their immediate resignation just days after the electric vehicle company said it may run out of cash. The stock is down roughly 43% year-to-date.

West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.82% to $71.51 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, gained 0.77% to $73.25 per barrel.

Gold slid 1.52% to $1,851 per ounce.