This time it really was a day of light trading with the Dow reaching only 6.3 billion as the market digested the sum of last week's news and played wait-and-see on the sum of what's coming this week.  This week will be the March Fed meeting in which the expected no news will be good news and the release of more new economic data including retail sales.  Oil was down 4% but this was not unexpected after a six-week rally that has brought the S&P back more than 90% from its lows just a few weeks ago.  The day was not without its drama dropping 50 points right out the gate, then coming back to a 60 point gain (110 points total) before settling back in the final half hour to a modest 15 point gain.  So though it ended flat, it was hardly a flat day, just a wait-and-see day.  Things will pop more on Wednesday if there are any surprises from the Fed (not to mention surprises from the first winner-take-all Super Tuesday.)

Markets | Mon Mar 14, 2016 6:07pm EDT

Wall St. ends flat as Fed meeting looms

NEW YORK | BY LAILA KEARNEY

DJ:  17,229.13  +15.82       NAS: 4,750.28  +1.81        S&P:  2,019.64  -2.55  

(Reuters)  Wall Street closed little changed in light trading on Monday as consumer discretionary gains countered losses in energy shares and investors laid low ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting.  The Fed is not expected to raise interest rates at the two-day meeting, which begins on Tuesday, but investors will be on the lookout for clues about future hikes.

"If investors are inclined to make a bet, then they're better served by waiting a few days," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago.

Global oil prices fell as much as 4 percent on concerns a six-week market recovery has gone beyond fundamentals.

The recent rally in oil prices and data pointing to a strengthening U.S. economy have helped stocks recover from a steep selloff at the start of the year.

The S&P 500 is now down about 1 percent in 2016, after having been down as much as 10.5 percent in mid-February.

As they also wait on the release of economic data, including U.S. retail sales, investors were further digesting moves by the European Central Bank and other global economic news last week.

"To me, it's one of those days where the market is doing its best to digest some of those factors and to see what's next," said Steven Baffico, chief executive officer at Four Wood Capital Partners in New York.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI closed up 15.82 points, or 0.09 percent, to 17,229.13, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 2.55 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,019.64 and the Nasdaq Composite.IXIC added 1.81 points, or 0.04 percent, to 4,750.28.

Seven of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower. The energy sector .SPNY fell 0.6 percent. Schlumberger's (SLB.N) 2.1-percent fall and Baker Hughes' (BHI.N) 4.2-percent decline weighed the most on the sector.

The consumer discretionary sector .SPLRCD rose 0.4 percent.

McDonald's (MCD.N) and Boeing (BA.N) gave the biggest boosts to the Dow.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts (HOT.N) climbed 7.8 percent at $75.93 after the hotel operator received a takeover offer of $76 per share from a consortium of companies. Marriott (MAR.O), which had been set to take over Starwood, ended up 3 percent at $70.93.

GW Pharmaceuticals (GWPH.O) soared 120 percent to $84.71. The company's experimental cannabis-based drug succeeded in treating children with a rare form of severe epilepsy.

Shares of specialty grocery retailer Fresh Market Inc (TFM.O) jumped 23.5 pct to $28.39 after it agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC (APO.N).

About 6.3 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, below the 8.3 billion average over the last 20 sessions and the lowest daily volume of the year.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,679 to 1,311, for a 1.28-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 1,507 issues fell and 1,276 advanced for a 1.18-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 12 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 40 new highs and 20 new lows.