NEW YORK - Wall Street turned in a mixed performance Monday as investors watched the price of oil regain ground and decided to cash in some of their gains from the stock market's big rally last week.

While the stock market's major indexes showed modest losses, the number of stocks advancing outpaced decliners by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, and by about 4 to 3 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The tame session unfolded as oil rose on concerns that the threat of new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program may escalate tensions in the Middle East. Light, sweet crude rose $2.16 to settle at $131.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The rise in oil offset initial market enthusiasm after Bank of America posted results that beat expectations, raising hope the credit crisis might be easing for the nation's biggest retail banks.

Still, "with crude trading up near $130, and a big advance last week, some investors are taking chips off the table," said Jim Herrick, manager of equity trading at Baird & Co. "We're going to be in a tight trading range this week based on earnings and oil prices."

The market was also uneasy about earnings at drugmakers Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp. Both pharmaceutical companies fell after a new study showed their cholesterol drug Vytorin did not meet its main goals.

Ryan Detrick with Schaeffer's Investment Research said the market is still feeling somewhat upbeat about how earnings are shaping up so far this quarter. And that has helped to maintain some of last week's market gains, despite the pullback Monday.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 29.23, or 0.25 percent, to 11,467.34 after moving in and out of positive territory.

Broader indexes showed more modest declines. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 0.68, or 0.05 percent, to 1,260.00; and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 3.25, or 0.14 percent, to 2,279.53.

Bond prices rose Monday as the major stock indexes declined. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 4.05 percent from 4.09 percent late Friday.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 4.55, or 0.66 percent, to 697.63.

Overseas, markets in Japan were closed for a holiday. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.52 percent, Germany's DAX index added 0.66 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.65 percent.