(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

*

Futures up: Dow 0.11%, S&P 0.15%, Nasdaq 0.23%

April 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged

higher on Monday as Tesla and Apple ( AAPL ) led gains in megacap

companies while markets awaited the Federal Reserve's interest

rate decision later in the week.

Tesla shares jumped 7.3% premarket after the

electric vehicle maker cleared some key regulatory hurdles that

have long hindered it from rolling out its self-driving software

in China, the U.S. automaker's second-largest market.

Apple ( AAPL ) added 1.7% after a report that the iPhone

maker had renewed discussions with OpenAI about using the

startup's generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

Bernstein upgraded the stock to "outperform".

Easing yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note

also helped, with some other megacaps extending

their gains from last week. Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Microsoft ( MSFT )

were up 0.8% and 0.4%, respectively.

U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday, buoyed by moderate

inflation data and a rally in megacap growth stocks following

robust quarterly results from technology heavyweights Alphabet

and Microsoft ( MSFT ).

Earnings season is in full swing, with adjusted blended

earnings for the first quarter estimated to grow 8.7% on a

year-on-year basis, according to LSEG data.

On the day, Domino's Pizza and ON Semiconductor

are slated to report their quarterly numbers before the

opening bell.

Sentiment remained upbeat as the personal consumption

expenditure index data on Friday was largely in line with

economists' expectations, easing concerns about persistent

inflationary pressures. Also offering support, Israel-Hamas

peace talks in Cairo eased fears of a wider conflict in the

Middle East

Focus will now shift to the Fed's interest rate decision due

on Wednesday, ahead of a key jobs report on Friday that could

set the tone for market direction in the near-term.

"We are not expecting a lot from the Fed this week. Powell

would likely reiterate his latest comments that the recent set

of strong data would delay rate cuts," Mohit Kumar, chief

economist Europe at Jefferies, said in a note.

"Focus would also be on reducing the pace of (quantitative

tightening)."

Money markets are pricing in just about 36 basis points

(bps) of interest rate cuts this year, down from about 150 bps

seen at the beginning of the year, according to LSEG.

At 05:43 a.m., Dow E-minis were up 42 points, or

0.11%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 7.75 points, or 0.15%,

Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 40.75 points, or 0.23%.

Cryptocurrency-linked stocks fell premarket, tracking lower

bitcoin prices. Crypto exchange Coinbase Global ( COIN ) and

crypto miners Riot Platforms ( RIOT ) and Marathon Digital ( MARA )

were down between 2.6% and 3.1%.

(Reporting by Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika

Syamnath)