A delay in the Obama administration's unveiling of its latest bank-rescue plan left the stockmarket on pause as well on Monday.
Stocks, Bonds & Forex Trading source: online.wsj.com

Major indexes edged lower as investors awaited details of an effort that will likely entail coordinated effort between the Treasury Department and the private sector to remove distressed credit securities from banks' balance sheets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was lower by around 29 points in recent trading, sliding to roughly 8251. The S&P 500 was little-changed, while the Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.4%.

The new bank plan was originally expected to be unveiled on Monday, but officials decided over the weekend to hold off so they could focus on parallel efforts to get a fiscal stimulus bill through Congress including a mix of tax cuts and federal spending aimed at bolstering employment and consumption.

"Certainly, these things won't cure all the economy's ills in 24 hours, but they should begin to restore some confidence," said economist Peter Cardillo, of Avalon Partners.

He said that the market may be on the cusp of a sustained rally, after suffering an early-year slide that factored in expectations of bad economic news to come. But there are still many skeptics of that rosy view throughout Wall Street.

Some investors took cash off the table Monday on the heels of solid market gains last week, snapping a four-week losing streak. Participants looked past a dismal employment report to passage of the economic stimulus plan and the rollout of the bank rescue.

The Senate is expected to vote on ending debate on the stimulus on Monday, with a possible vote on the compromise measure Tuesday. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is also expected to announce Tuesday that the government will become a partner with the private sector to purchase banks' troubled assets. The plan also includes programs designed to jumpstart consumer lending and assist struggling homeowners.

The administration's plans have evolved over the past several weeks as it has considered and discarded a host of ideas, with financial markets anxiously awaiting details.

As investors awaited the plan, the dollar was weaker against major rivals and U.S. Treasury prices declined. The two-year note fell 1/32 to yield 1%. The benchmark 10-year Treasury lost 9/32, sending its yield up to 3.01%.

Financial stocks, which have set the tone for the broader stock market in recent weeks, were mixed. Bank of America climbed 10%, while Morgan Stanley dipped 0.5%. Barclays' U.S. shares were up 13% after it said it wouldn't turn to the British government for more capital.

Elsewhere, General Motors shares rose 1.7% after The Wall Street Journal reported the company is in talks to take back large portions of Delphi Corp. to get more U.S. bailout funds. But Nissan Motor shares lost 3% after it said it was cutting 20,000 jobs after reporting a $904 million quarterly loss.

Asian stock markets finished mixed. Japan's Nikkei shed 1.3% on a stronger yen. Europe stocks were generally flat; the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.2%.