US STOCKS-S&P 500 subdued as focus turns to Fed

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* Eli Lily drops after 'mixed' data from mid-stage trial
* Southwest, JetBlue signal recovery in leisure bookings
* Indexes: Dow up 0.1%, S&P flat, Nasdaq dips 0.1%

(Updates to market open)
By Shashank Nayar and Medha Singh
March 15 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 paused on Monday below an
all-time high as investors awaited cues from the Federal
Reserve's meeting this week amid caution over rising borrowing
costs spurred by massive fiscal stimulus.
Delta Air Lines DAL.N , Southwest Airlines LUV.N and
JetBlue Airways JBLU.N said leisure bookings are rising and
offered some of the first concrete signs that the worst may be
over for the airline industry. The S&P 1500 airlines index .SPCOMAIR jumped about 3.8% to
a one-year high, while planemaker Boeing Co BA.N added about
2%.
Other travel-related stocks including Carnival Corp CCL.N ,
Wynn Resorts WYNN.O and MGM Resorts MGM.N gained between 3%
and 5%.
Wall Street's main indexes on Friday logged their best week
in six as approval of a $1.9 trillion relief package and mass
vaccinations fueled demand for economy-linked stocks such as
banks, energy, materials at the cost of high-growth tech names.
The major U.S. stock indexes were roiled in recent weeks as
a spike in longer-dated U.S. bond yields due to fears of an
increase in inflation and, in response, a tapering of the Fed's
easy monetary policy worried investors.
"The U.S. economy looks in a better shape than most other
developed economies," said Hussein Sayed, chief market
strategist at FXTM.
"Despite the rosier economic outlook, this week's Fed
meeting is expected to be absent of major policy changes."
At the end of Fed's two-day meeting on Wednesday,
policymakers are expected to forecast that the U.S. economy will
grow in 2021 at the fastest rate in decades while reiterating
their dovish stance for the foreseeable future. The yields on benchmark 10-year Treasuries US10YT=RR
hovered near their 13-month high at 1.61%, slightly lower than
its peak of 1.64% hit on Friday.
At 9:47 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
rose 87.51 points, or 0.27%, to 32,866.15, the S&P 500 .SPX
gained 0.29 points, or 0.01%, to 3,943.63 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC lost 6.81 points, or 0.05%, to 13,313.11.
Five of the major S&P sectors were lower, with financials
.SPSY and energy .SPNY leading losses.
Tesla Inc TSLA.O added "Technoking of Tesla" to
billionaire Chief Executive Elon Musk's list of official titles
in a formal regulatory filing that also named finance chief
Zachary Kirkhorn "Master of Coin". Tesla's shares were nearly
flat. Eli Lilly and Co shares LLY.N slumped about 8.5% after
"mixed" results from the drugmaker's mid-stage trial testing its
experimental drug to treat Alzheimer's cast a doubt on the
chances for the drug's accelerated approval, according to
analysts. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.2-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 59 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 239 new highs and six new lows.