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Tesla up after Morgan Stanley ( MS ) adds stock to 'top pick'

list

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McDonald's jumps on $5-meal deal beat

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Crypto stocks fall, Abbott drops after formula verdict

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Indexes: Dow off 0.02%, S&P up 0.15%, Nasdaq up 0.15%

(Updated prices at 2:29 p.m ET/ 1829 GMT)

By Sinéad Carew and Ankika Biswas

July 29 (Reuters) -

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 edged higher on Monday in choppy

trading as investors anxiously awaited a raft of technology

company earnings, a Federal Reserve policy decision on

interest-rate cuts and key US labor data, all this week.

Quarterly reports from market heavyweights such as Microsoft ( MSFT )

and Apple ( AAPL ), Meta and Amazon.com ( AMZN )

this week will offer clues on whether their stocks are

vulnerable or can extend their recent rallies.

After the Fed ends its scheduled meeting on Wednesday

investors are hoping that it will signal a September rate cut in

its policy verdict.

On Friday investors will focus on the July non-farm

payrolls report for signs of possible weakening in the labor

market.

"Understandably we're wavering," said Mona Mahajan,

principal and senior investment strategist at Edward Jones,

pointing to the upcoming catalysts and Wall Street's Friday

advance.

"Markets are largely in wait-and-see mode. We have big

economic news this week, both the Fed meeting Wednesday and the

jobs report on Friday. We also have huge earnings reports coming

out of mega cap technology," she said.

Technology megacaps have dominated Wall Street's

record-breaking run, prompting investors to recently turn their

attention to laggards such as mid- and small caps, which are

expected to benefit from a low-interest-rate environment.

"A lot of investors are keen to see whether the recent

rotation we've been seeing in the markets has legs, or does mega

cap technology really kind of shine through in its earnings

reports," Mahajan added.

However, on Monday, the small-cap Russell 2000

dropped 1.3% after three straight weeks of gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 10.05

points, or 0.02%, to 40,579.29. The S&P 500 gained 7.95

points, or 0.15%, at 5,467.05 and the Nasdaq Composite

added 25.24 points, or 0.15%, at 17,383.12.

Among the S&P 500's 11 major industry sector indexes

consumer discretionary provided the biggest boost with

its lead contribution from Tesla. The electric vehicle

maker's stock rose more than 5% after Morgan Stanley ( MS ) added it to

its "top pick" U.S. autos' list.

McDonald's shares jumped more than 4% after it said

its $5-meal deal, launched late in June, was popular among

customers shying away from higher-price items. Despite the

strong reception for the deal, the fast food giant reported a

surprise drop in sales, its first in 13 quarters.

Abbott Laboratories ( ABT ) shares dropped 1% after a

jury ordered it to pay $495 million in damages in a trial that

found the healthcare company's formula for premature infants had

caused a dangerous illness.

Crypto stock trading was also choppy

with Coinbase Global ( COIN ) down more than 1% while peers

Riot Platforms ( RIOT ) and Marathon Digital ( MARA ) fell more

than 4% after an initial jump when bitcoin prices hit

seven-week highs.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a

1.40-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.93-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 30 new 52-week highs and two new

lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 111 new highs and 64 new

lows.