New York  - The major US markets were mixed on Monday as more stocks fell than gained on Wall Street amid further speculation that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates.

"This whole financial mess still has to work itself out, so a comment from the Fed that they want to fight inflation, that's not what the market wants to hear," Bucky Hellwig of Morgan Asset Management in Birmingham, Alabama, told Bloomberg financial news. "The market as a whole is not going to do anything significant as long as the financial sector continues to deteriorate."

Eight stocks fell for every five that rose, despite strong gains for energy shares and fast food giant McDonald's.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average picked up 70.51 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 12,280.32. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 added 1.08 points, or 0.1 per cent, to
1,361.76. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 15.10 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 2,459.46.

The US currency gained against the euro to 63.93 euro cents from 63.39 euro cents on Friday and against the Japanese currency to 106.31 yen from 104 yen.

Gold fell 90 cents to 898.10 dollars per fine ounce. (dpa)