*

Tesla gains after clearing self-driving hurdles in China

*

Apple ( AAPL ) rises after report of talks with OpenAI

*

Domino's Pizza beats sales expectations, shares up

(Updates to 4 PM ET)

By Chibuike Oguh

NEW YORK, April 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended higher

on Monday, with sharp gains for Tesla and Apple ( AAPL ) leading the way,

as investors looked toward what the Federal Reserve would say

about the interest rate outlook after its policy meeting this

week.

Traders expected the Fed to keep rates unchanged while

striking a hawkish tone.

Tesla shares surged, after the electric vehicle

maker made progress in securing regulatory approval to launch

its advanced driver-assistance program in China, its

second-largest market after the U.S.

Apple ( AAPL ) gained following a report that the iPhone

maker had renewed discussions with OpenAI about using the

startup's generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

Bernstein upgraded Apple's ( AAPL ) stock to "outperform".

Other megacap stocks finished lower including Alphabet

, Meta Platforms ( META ), Nvidia ( NVDA ) and

Microsoft ( MSFT ).

"The bigger question than rates, because they're not going

to cut this week, is how hawkish they're going to speak because

they've already been pretty hawkish," said Thomas Hayes,

chairman at hedge fund Great Hill Capital in New York.

Money markets are pricing in about 35 basis points (bps) of

interest rate cuts this year, down from about 150 bps seen at

the beginning of the year, according to LSEG.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500

gained 16.34 points, or 0.32%, to end at 5,116.30 points,

while the Nasdaq Composite gained 57.14 points, or

0.36%, to 15,985.04. The Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 151.63 points, or 0.40%, to 38,391.29.

Shares of Domino's Pizza jumped after topping

expectations for first-quarter same-store sales. Of the 233

companies in the S&P 500 that have reported quarterly earnings,

78.1% surpassed analyst expectations, compared with a long-term

average of 67%, according to LSEG data.

Paramount Global ( PARAA ) gained after a report that the

Redstone family and Skydance Media CEO David Ellison have made

concessions to make a potential change in control of the

streaming firm more appealing for other investors.

"The overall momentum is still to the upside and it's an

important week, with a ton of earnings, the Fed on Wednesday and

nonfarm payrolls on Friday, and the path of least resistance is

higher," said Bill Strazzullo, chief market strategist at Bell

Curve Trading in Boston.

Meanwhile, the Japanese yen jumped against the dollar on

Monday, with traders citing yen-buying intervention by

authorities trying to support a currency languishing at levels

last seen over three decades ago.