(In paragraph 3, corrects that Nvidia ( NVDA ) closed up, not down)

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FedEx ( FDX ) leaps after upbeat profit forecast

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Nvidia ( NVDA ) falls, drags chip stocks

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Rivian up on Volkswagen joint venture

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Amazon ( AMZN ) crosses $2 trillion in market value

By Ankika Biswas, Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Carolina Mandl

June 26 (Reuters) -

Major U.S. stock indexes closed with modest gains on

Wednesday after a choppy trading session, with investors holding

their cards close to the vest ahead of a presidential debate and

an inflation report closely watched by Federal Reserve policy

makers.

"We're in this kind of holding pattern while we wait to

see on Friday's personal consumption expenditure report to get

more information," said Michael Green, portfolio manager at

Simplify.

Leading chipmaker Nvidia ( NVDA ) closed slightly up,

while the the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index

dropped. Megacaps such as Apple ( AAPL ), Amazon.com ( AMZN )

and Tesla also posted gains.

Several economic data releases are due this week,

leading to Friday's release of the personal consumption

expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred

inflation gauge used to decide on the path of monetary policy.

The Fed has been projecting only one interest rate cut

this year, in December. But investors see a 56.3% chance of a

25-basis point rate cut in September, and about two cuts by the

year-end, LSEG's interest rate probabilities app showed.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500

gained 8.89 points, or 0.16%, to end at 5,478.19 points,

while the Nasdaq Composite gained 85.01 points, or

0.48%, to 17,802.66. The Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 17.43 points, or 0.04%, to 39,129.59.

"Investors are sitting on their hands, waiting for

tomorrow's presidential debate and for additional economic news

in particular this Friday's PCE," said Sam Stovall, chief

investment strategist at CFRA.

Positive earnings and benign inflation data could

encourage more rotation from tech to sectors that have lagged

this year, Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at the Carson

Group.

Earlier this week, investors had increased bets on

non-technology sectors.

"We're probably going to see this choppiness continue

until there is a catalyst," said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist

at Annex Wealth Management.

Appliances manufacturer

Whirlpool

surged after Reuters reported that German

engineering group Robert Bosch is weighing a bid for the U.S.

appliances maker.

FedEx ( FDX ) jumped after the delivery giant forecast

fiscal 2025 profit above estimates, boosting the Dow Jones

Transport index to its highest in over a month.

Apple ( AAPL ) rose after Rosenblatt upgraded the iPhone

maker's stock to "buy" from "neutral". Tesla gained as Stifel

initiated coverage with a buy rating.

Shares of Amazon Inc, bringing the company's market

value above $2 trillion, the fifth U.S. corporation to cross

that level.

Shares of major U.S. banks including Morgan Stanley ( MS )

, Citigroup ( C/PN ), and Bank of America ( BAC ) slipped

ahead of the Fed's release of results from its annual banking

sector stress test.

The broader S&P 500 financial index fell.

Rivian soared as German automaker Volkswagen

said it will invest up to $5 billion in the U.S.

electric-vehicle maker.

General Mills ( GIS ) dipped after the Cheerios cereal maker

forecast annual profit below estimates and posted a

bigger-than-expected drop in quarterly sales.