"It appears to me that his comments wee a little less hawkish than other Fed officials, but still pointing to a rate hike," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial.  Lockhart delivered his speech after a slew of his colleagues made several hawkish remarks, including Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren. On Friday, Rosengren said that low interest rates are increasing the chance of overheating the U.S. economy. Gradually tightening monetary policy is appropriate to maintaining full employment, he added.  Fed Governor Lael Brainard is scheduled to speak later on Monday.  U.S. stocks closed sharply lower on Friday, with the three major indexes posting their worst day since June 24, when the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union.  "The market had beein in a sideways consolidation period with very little volatility," said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab. "When the market gets into a period like that, it becomes very sensitive to news events."  The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, rose nearly 40 percent Friday, but fell nearly 4 percent Monday, to 16.75.  First Standard's Cardillo noted that September is a historically volatile month and that the market is "going through a normal pullback. I think Friday was the beginning of that." He also said jitters about the U.S. election were weighing on U.S. equities.  Hillary Clinton left Sunday's 9/11 memorial at ground zero after she felt "overheated," according to her campaign. She had to be helped into van. A note from her doctor released later Sunday said she had been diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday.  Clinton was taken to daughter Chelsea's New York apartment. About two hours later, she emerged and told onlookers: "It's a beautiful day in New York." She said she was "feeling better," according to NBC News.  The Democratic nominee's lead over her GOP counterpart Donald Trump has narrowed recently, according to data from RealClearPolitics.  In an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box," Trump said Fed Chair Janet Yellen should be "ashamed" of what she'd doing to the country, adding the Fed is not even close to being independent.  Meanwhile, oil prices erased earlier losses, with U.S. crude gaining 0.52 percent to $46.13 per barrel.  U.S. Treasurys traded slightly lower, with the two-year note yield near 0.78 percent and the 10-year note yield around 1.68 percent. The U.S. dollar traded flat against a basket of currencies, with the euro near $1.1229 and the yen around 101.99.
Stocks traded slightly higher on the heels of a global equities sell-off as investors around the world wondered when the Fed may raise interest rates.