NEW YORK — Stocks ended mixed yesterday ahead of a flurry of earnings reports that could determine whether the economy is really getting better, as investors have been hoping over the past month as they plunged money back into the market.

The occasional 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 reignite buying if they beat Wall Street's modest expectations.