NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks erased early losses to end mostly higher Monday ahead of a flurry of earnings and economic reports that could determine whether the bets investors made in the past month on a stabilizing economy will pay off.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 26 points, while broader indexes posted gains. Trading volume was light, which can skew the market’s moves.

The bouts of selling after a long holiday weekend were orderly and suggested that traders were reluctant to give up on a five-week rally. The earnings reports and economic figures due this week could re-ignite buying if they beat Wall Street’s modest expectations.

“If you get a couple earnings reports that are better than the worst that people expected then that might help,” said Denis Amato, chief investment officer at Ancora Advisors.

Bank stocks rallied ahead of their quarterly reports this week. After the closing bell, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. surprised investors by releasing better-than-expected results and announcing a $5 billion stock offering. The company had been scheduled to report early Tuesday.

Industrial stocks ended mixed after Boeing Co. and Chevron Corp. said the weak economy was hurting their results.

The market was unsettled Monday by a New York Times report saying the Treasury has directed General Motors Corp. to lay the groundwork for a potential bankruptcy filing by June 1. GM might be forced to file if it cannot complete a plan to exchange debt for equity, according to the report.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow fell 25.57, or 0.3 percent, to 8,057.81.

Broader stock indicators advanced. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 2.17, or 0.3 percent, to 858.73, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 0.77, or 0.1 percent, to 1,653.31.