02:29 PM EDT, 04/29/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes were higher intraday Monday, as markets awaited key corporate earnings and the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy decision due later in the week.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.5% at 16,004.1 after midday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 rose 0.4% each to 38,400.5 and 5,118.5, respectively. Among sectors, consumer discretionary led the gainers, while communication services was the sole decliner.

Apple (AAPL), Amazon.com (AMZN), Eli Lilly (LLY), Coca-Cola (KO), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), McDonald's (MCD), Mastercard (MA), and Pfizer (PFE) are among the notable companies scheduled to post their latest quarterly results later this week.

Companies including NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), Welltower (WELL), Paramount Global (PARAA, PARA) and Logitech International (LOGI) are scheduled to report after Monday's closing bell.

Tesla (TSLA) shares were up nearly 16% intraday, the top gainer on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Chief Executive Elon Musk's latest visit to China and getting approval for its automated driving system is set to be a "watershed moment" for the electric vehicle giant's long-term growth, Wedbush Securities said in a note.

Boeing (BA) received orders of about $77 billion for its dollar bond sale to raise funds for general purposes, Bloomberg News reported, citing unnamed sources. The planemaker's shares were up 3.5%, the best performer on the Dow.

Franklin Resources (BEN) shares fell 4.9%, the steepest decline on the S&P 500, after the company's fiscal second-quarter adjusted earnings fell short of Wall Street's expectations.

The US 10-year yield dropped 5.1 basis points to 4.62% intraday, while the two-year rate slid 2.7 basis points to 4.97%.

The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee is expected to announce its next interest-rate decision Wednesday. Markets are widely expecting that policymakers will keep their benchmark lending rate unchanged at 5.25% to 5.50%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. That would mark a sixth straight pause.

In a bid to tame inflation, the FOMC tightened monetary policy from March 2022 through July 2023.

"Odds are that there will not be anything from the upcoming meeting of the (FOMC) that would alter our baseline forecast for the first rate cut to occur in September, followed by another cut in December," Oxford Economics said in a Monday note. "Given the incoming data on inflation, risks are weighted toward fewer cuts this year."

West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 1.6% to $82.48 per barrel intraday.

Gold was up 0.3% at $2,353.60 per troy ounce, while silver added 0.2% to $27.59 per ounce.