U.S. MARKET AVERAGES

After the initial advance market lost momentum on cautiousness ahead of interest rates decision. The record-high results from oil giant Exxon Mobil and strong consumer spending encouraged investors to bid stocks higher at opening, but failed to give further momentum.

The Federal Reserve’s meeting on Tuesday will be the last one presided over by Alan Greenspan. The Fed Reserve is expected to raise interest rates by a quarter percentage point to 4.5%, but Wall Street expects a signal that the Fed will stop hiking rates after that.

Exxon Mobil's earnings surged 27% to more than $10 billion, benefiting from high oil prices. Revenue jumped 20% to $99.66 billion from a year earlier, topping analysts' forecasts of $95.65 billion. Shares of Exxon rose 2.9%.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported that consumer spending rose 0.9% in December, while personal incomes rose just 0.4%.

The airline sector was a notable advancer in the early going, climbing by about 1.9% with AMR (AMR: chart) being the best performer in the group, up 7%. Continental (CAL: chart) posted an advance of 3.7%. JetBlue(JBLU: chart) rose by about 2.4%.

The biotech sector declined through most of the morning session, erasing some of the gains it posted in the final 2 sessions of last week, but remainrd in a trading range that has held it for about 3 weeks.

USG Corp. (USG: chart) jumped to a new 52-week high, as news of an asbestos settlement has sparked a gain of more than 15%. Monsanto (MON: chart) rallied more than 2.5% to set a fresh high as well. Novell (NOVL: chart) built on last-week gains, stretching its peak.

Tyson Foods (TSN: chart) dropped to a new 52-week low on disappointing earnings and outlook. Hershey (HSY: chart) extended last week''s earnings-related slide to set another new low. Dollar General (DG: chart) has ticked to a fresh nadir as well.

In midday trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 8.25, or 0.08%. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index added 0.44, or 0.03%, and the Nasdaq composite index gained 2.61, or 0.11%.

Bonds moved lower, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.54% from 4.51% late Friday.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Lowrance Electronics (LEIX: chart), marine electronics products company, agreed to be acquired by Simrad Yachting AS for $215 million, or $37 a share which represents a premium of 48% from a closing price of $25 for Lowrance stock on Friday. The stock surged 46.5%.

USG Corp (USG: chart) agreed to resolve asbestos personal injury claims in a Chapter 11 agreement that paves the way for the company to exit bankruptcy in 2006. Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA: chart) will backstop a $1.8 billion stockholder rights offering. After voting on the plan, the plan will require approval by both the Bankruptcy Court and the district court that oversees the cases. The company also reported a Q4 net loss of $1.8 billion or $39.94 a share, compared to earnings of $85 million, or $1.98 a share in the year-ago period, citing charges. Revenue rose to $1.34 billion from $1.17 billion. USG’s shares rose 16%.

FMC Technologies (FTI: chart) raised its Q4 outlook to earnings of 7 to 17 cents a share, or 43 to 53 cents a share when excluding a tax charge for repatriating earnings. FMC added that it''s near a completion of an offshore oil loading project in Algeria. Analysts expected adjusted earnings of 53 cents a share. The stock gained 6%.

ECONOMIC NEWS

Monday morning, the Department of Commerce released its report on personal income and spending in the month of December. The report showed that spending rose slightly more than expected while income rose in line with economist estimates.

The Commerce Dept. said that personal spending rose 0.9 percent in December following an upwardly revised 0.5 percent increase in November. Economists had expected spending to rise 0.8 percent compared to the 0.3 percent growth originally reported for November.

The report also showed that personal income rose 0.4 percent in December, matching the increase seen in the previous month. As mentioned above, the personal income growth came in line with economist estimates.