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Tesla gains after clearing self-driving hurdles in China

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Apple ( AAPL ) rises after report of talks with OpenAI

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Domino's Pizza up on beating sales expectations as orders

thrive

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Indexes up: Dow up 0.22%, S&P up 0.24%, Nasdaq up 0.25%

(Updated at 11:28 a.m. ET/ 1528 GMT)

By Shristi Achar A and Johann M Cherian

April 29 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes crept

higher in volatile trading on Monday as shares of Tesla and

Apple ( AAPL ) advanced, while investors exercised caution ahead of the

Federal Reserve's interest rate decision later in the week.

Tesla shares shot up nearly 14.5%, driving a 1.6%

rise in the consumer discretionary sector, after the

electric vehicle maker cleared some key regulatory hurdles that

had long hindered the roll-out of its self-driving software in

China, its second-largest market.

Apple ( AAPL ) added 3.1% 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".

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.

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.

"There are definitely some issues that are not just headline

driven on inflation that investors are paying a little more

attention to, and that brings back into balance things like the

inflation versus safety," said Jamie Cox, managing partner of

Harris Financial Group.

Utilities gained 1.2%, while the yield on the

10-year Treasury note declined, last standing at

4.625%.

Money markets are pricing in just 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.

At 11:28 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose

85.52 points, or 0.22%, to 38,325.18, the S&P 500 gained

12.46 points, or 0.24%, to 5,112.42 and the Nasdaq Composite

gained 40.16 points, or 0.25%, to 15,968.06.

Offsetting the optimism, the communication services sector

lost 1.7%, dragged by Alphabet and Meta

Platforms ( META ) shedding more than 2% each.

On the earnings front, Domino's Pizza jumped nearly

5% after topping Street 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.

Among other movers, Paramount Global ( PARAA ) gained 4.8%

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.

Lower bitcoin prices weighed on cryptocurrency-linked

stocks. Crypto exchange Coinbase Global ( COIN ) and crypto

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

were down between 3.2% and 3.7%.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.98-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.94-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 18 new 52-week highs and one new low

while the Nasdaq recorded 57 new highs and 39 new lows.

(Reporting by Shristi Achar A and Johann M Cherian in

Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)