NEW YORK — Wall Street started the week on a leery note today, trading mixed as investors' anxieties turned from the beleaguered auto industry to the growing list of firms affected by Wall Street investment manager Bernard Madoff.

Investors were relieved to hear that President George W. Bush, discussing the automakers, told reporters Monday that "we're now in the process of working with the stakeholders on a way forward." The Senate last week rejected a $14 billion bailout for General Motors Corp., Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Co. — raising the possibility of an automaker bankruptcy, which some analysts say would result in as many as 3 million U.S. job losses next year.

But as that fear eased, at least for the time being, another one cropped up. More and more individuals and companies have been revealing exposure to Madoff's fund, which prosecutors say was a $50 billion Ponzi scheme to defraud investors. Those firms include Banco Santander, BNP Paribas, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and hedge fund Man Group PLC.

"The investor psyche is already quite fragile. Scandals like this just add fuel to the fire," said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist for RidgeWorth Capital Management.

Investors also seemed hesitant to make any major moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's Tuesday decision on interest rates. Some analysts anticipate policy makers to cut the key rate by a half-point to 0.5 percent, while others expect a three-quarter-point reduction to 0.25 percent — which would be the lowest key rate on records going back to 1954.

"A Fed ease this week has long been anticipated by the market; the only news would be if the Fed did not cut," Gayle said. He added that the market will probably pay close attention to the statement the central bank releases about the economy and the possibility of future policy actions.

In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 20.39, or 0.24 percent, to 8,650.07.

Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 2.32, or 0.26 percent, to 882.05, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 3.30, or 0.21 percent, to 1,537.42.