(Adds headline tag)
* U.S. dollar dips on expectations Fed holds rates this year
* Oil prices fall back
* U.S. stocks steady ahead of corporate earnings
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar fell on Monday and gold continued to rise as markets priced the possibility that the Federal Reserve would not begin a tightening cycle this year, while U.S. stocks opened little changed.
Speaking at the annual autumn meeting of the IMF and World Bank in Lima, Peru on Sunday, Federal Reserve vice-chairman, Stanley Fischer, said policymakers are still likely to raise interest rates this year but that is "an expectation, not a commitment", and could change if the global economy pushes the U.S. economy further off course. ID:nL1N12B087
Crude oil futures CLc1 fell nearly 2.0 percent, after gaining almost 9.0 percent last week, while Brent LCOc1 also slipped but remained comfortably above $50 a barrel.
Oil has been on a roller-coaster ride over the last few weeks, recovering from six-year lows. North Sea Brent crude dropped to almost $42 a barrel in August, from a peak above $115 in June 2014, but then rallied back to an intraday high of $54.05 on Friday.
The U.S. bond market was closed for the Columbus Day holiday.
U.S. stocks were little changed in muted trading on Monday as investors paused before a busy week of quarterly results from U.S. banks and other major industrial companies. .N
On Wall Street, major stock indexes were little changed but utility stocks, often traded in lieu of bonds due to their perceived lower risk and high dividends, outperformed with a 1.1 percent advance on the S&P 500 utilities index .SPLRCU .
JPMorgan (N:JPM) JPM.N reports earnings on Tuesday, with Goldman Sachs (N:GS) GS.N , Bank of America (N:BAC) BAC.N , Wells Fargo (N:WFC) WFC.N and Citigroup (N:C) C.N posting results through the week.
The energy sector .SPNY was the biggest decliner among the major S&P sectors as crude oil prices slipped. Chevron (N:CVX)'s CVX.N 1.2 percent fall to $88.56 made it the biggest drag on the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI. O/R
Health stocks were down after Eli Lilly LLY.N said it was scrapping an experimental heart drug and taking a related charge in the current quarter. boosted base metals, but analysts warned the shift in output may not be enough to offset weak demand growth in China.