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Megacap earnings due this week

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Policy announcement on tap from multiple central banks

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U.S. indexes end session with record closing levels

(Updates with US market close)

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Global shares ascended to

an intraday record on Tuesday, buoyed by signs of cooling trade

tensions between the U.S. and China and by gains in technology

shares, while investors awaited a Federal Reserve policy

decision and digested corporate earnings.

The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday will kick off a string

of policy announcements this week by global central banks,

including in Japan, Canada and Europe.

The Fed is widely expected to cut interest rates at the meeting,

with markets pricing in a 99.9% chance for a rate cut of 25

basis points, according to CME's FedWatch Tool.

Expectations for a lower path of interest rates from the

central bank, along with recent signs of easing trade tensions

between the U.S. and China, have helped to boost the markets'

risk appetite, sending stocks higher and keeping the 10-year

U.S. Treasury yield moored near multi-month lows.

In addition, the ongoing U.S. government shutdown has led to

a shortage of economic data for investors to parse.

CONTINUED RALLY SEEN IN RISKY ASSETS

With the lack of government data, investors have looked to other

sources to gauge the strength of the economy. On Tuesday, the

ADP National Employment Report's inaugural weekly preliminary

estimate showed U.S. private payrolls increased by an average of

14,250 jobs in the four weeks ending October 11.

"Volatility has been extraordinarily low and in some

respects, surprising, given all of the uncertainties ... but it

seems to be very, very stable, and you're seeing the sort of

continued rally in risky assets," said Subadra Rajappa, head of

U.S. rates strategy at Societe Generale in New York.

"So you have a combination, especially for the Fed meeting,

of lower yields, easier financial conditions, inflation coming

off, the job market remaining somewhat stable as well, so it's

been a tough read on the economy."

The European Central Bank and Bank of Japan are largely

expected to keep rates unchanged at their policy meetings.

DOW LEADS GAINS AMONG MAJOR INDEXES

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks closed at another record, boosted in

part by a 2% advance in Microsoft ( MSFT ) after it reached a

deal that allows OpenAI to restructure into a public benefit

corporation while giving the megacap company a 27% stake in the

ChatGPT maker.

Also providing a boost was a 5% jump in Nvidia ( NVDA ) after

CEO Jensen Huang said the artificial-intelligence chip leader

will build seven new supercomputers for the U.S. Department of

Energy, and the company has $500 billion in bookings for its AI

chips.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 161.78 points, or

0.34%, to 47,706.37, the S&P 500 rose 15.73 points, or

0.23%, to 6,890.89 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 190.04

points, or 0.80%, to 23,827.49.

"Momentum and earnings are pushing the market higher," said

Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital

Securities in New York, adding that there is also "enthusiasm

about Trump's Asian trip."

Equities have rallied of late as U.S. President Donald Trump and

his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are due to meet on Thursday

to decide on a framework that could pause tougher U.S. tariffs

and China's rare-earth export curbs, easing market worries about

an escalating trade war.

Earnings are expected this week from "Magnificent Seven"

heavyweights Microsoft ( MSFT ), Alphabet, Apple ( AAPL ),

Amazon ( AMZN ) and Meta Platforms ( META ). Investors will

closely eye the results to see if they justify lofty valuations.

MORE THAN FOUR IN FIVE S&P COMPANIES BEAT EXPECTATIONS

Of the 180 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings

through Tuesday morning, 86.7% have topped analyst expectations,

according to LSEG data.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe advanced

21.18 points, or 0.12%, to 1,013.68 after hitting a record

1,015.73 while the pan-European STOXX 600 index closed

down 0.22%.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell

2.1 basis points to 3.976%.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a

basket of currencies, fell 0.07% to 98.70, with the euro

up 0.11% at $1.1656.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 0.52% to

152.07 after comments by a Japanese minister and U.S. Treasury

Secretary Scott Bessent eased some concerns about more expansive

fiscal and monetary policy in that country.

Sterling weakened 0.45% to $1.3275.

U.S. crude settled down 1.89% to $60.15 a barrel, and

Brent fell to settle at $64.40 per barrel, down 1.86%,

as investors assessed the effect of U.S. sanctions on Russia's

two biggest oil companies along with a potential OPEC+ plan to

raise output.