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Tesla gains after clearing self-driving hurdles in China

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Apple 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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Futures up: Dow 0.1%, S&P 0.1%, Nasdaq 0.3%

(Updated at 07:08 a.m. ET/ 1108 GMT)

By Shristi Achar A and Johann M Cherian

April 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Monday as Tesla and Apple led gains in megacap companies, while investors exercised caution ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision later in the week.

Tesla shares jumped 9.3% premarket after the electric vehicle maker cleared some key regulatory hurdles that had long hindered it from rolling out its self-driving software in China, the U.S. automaker's second-largest market.

Apple added 2% 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.

"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 07:08 a.m., Dow E-minis were up 33 points, or 0.11%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 8.25 points, or 0.16%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 48 points, or 0.27%.

Earnings season is in full swing, with adjusted blended earnings for the first quarter estimated to grow 8.7% on a year-over-year basis, according to LSEG data.

Domino's Pizza jumped 5% after topping Street expectations for first-quarter same-store sales, as consumers in the United States tapped into the pizza chain's spruced-up loyalty program and other promotional offerings.