Wall Street inches up as Tesla, Apple shares gain; Fed verdict on tap

Wall Street's main indexes on Monday inched higher in volatile trading, with shares of Tesla and Apple advancing. Investors exercised caution ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision later in the week.

Tesla shares surged nearly 13 per cent, driving a 1.8 per cent rise in the consumer discretionary sector, after the electric vehicle maker cleared regulatory hurdles hindering the roll-out of its self-driving software in China.

Apple added 3.5 per cent following reports of renewed discussions with OpenAI about using the startup's generative artificial intelligence technology. Bernstein upgraded the stock to "outperform."

Stocks closed higher on Friday, buoyed by moderate inflation data and strong quarterly results from technology giants Alphabet and Microsoft.

Peace talks between Israel and Hamas in Cairo eased fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.

Focus now turns to the Fed's interest rate decision due on Wednesday, ahead of a key jobs report on Friday.

Earnings season is in full swing, with first-quarter earnings estimated to grow 8.7 per cent year-over-year.

Among movers on Monday, Domino's Pizza jumped 3.3 per cent after beating expectations for first-quarter same-store sales.

Paramount Global gained 5.6 per cent after reports of concessions made by the Redstone family and Skydance Media CEO David Ellison to make a potential change in control of the streaming firm more appealing for investors.

However, a fall in bitcoin prices pulled down cryptocurrency-linked stocks in trading.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on both the NYSE and the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq recorded new highs, while the Nasdaq also noted new lows.

(With Reuters inputs)