NEW YORK — Stocks started the week with a mixed performance Monday, with many investors moving to the sidelines as they wait for quarterly profit reports.

Wall Street had popped higher in earlier trading, encouraged by talk of a $5 billion private equity investment in Washington Mutual Inc. The nation's largest thrift is reportedly in discussions with buyout shop TPG Inc. and other investors about selling a stake in itself in return for cash.

But with earnings on tap and the Federal Reserve issuing minutes from its March meeting on Tuesday, the stock market pulled back cautiously.

The broader market started selling off when the Standard & Poor's 500 index began approaching the levels where it stood before Wall Street's massive selloff in early March, noted Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

"When the market closes, first-quarter earnings kick up — it looks like people are taking money off the table ahead of those," Detrick said. "We had a good rally. We're thinking the next major driver will be those earnings reports."

After the market closed, aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. reported its first-quarter results.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.01, or 0.02 percent, to 12,612.43, after rising more than 120 points earlier in the day.

Broader stock indicators finished mixed. The S&P 500 index closed up 2.14, or 0.16 percent, at 1,372.54, after rising as high as 1,386.74. The Nasdaq composite index fell 6.15, or 0.26 percent, to 2,364.83.