NEW YORK — Stocks struggled today, ending mostly lower after rising oil prices and ongoing worries about the financial sector gave investors little reason to buy a day ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting.

Disappointment that Saudi Arabia is not boosting production by more than 200,000 barrels a day sent oil prices higher, fanning concerns about inflation. Light, sweet crude rose $1.38 to settle at $136.74 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Energy companies rose but sectors like airlines and financials logged steep losses.

With little economic data arriving, investors focused on the price of oil and the Fed's two-day meeting, which lets out on Wednesday. Most investors expect policymakers to keep the central bank's key federal funds rate on hold, and in its economic statement, emphasize the rising threat of inflation.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.33, or less than 0.01 percent, to 11,842.36.

Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up 0.07, or 0.01 percent, to 1,318.00, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 20.35, or 0.85 percent, to 2,385.74.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.09 billion shares compared with a heavy 2.04 billion shares seen Friday as stocks fell sharply and as several types of options contracts expired.