Investing.com-- The S&P 500 closed higher Monday, ahead of more tech earnings and the Federal Reserve meeting due this week.

At 16:00 ET (20:00 GMT), the S&P 500 climbed 0.1%, the NASDAQ Composite gained 0.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 49 points, or 0.1%.

Fed meeting set to provide rate cut clarity

The U.S. Federal Reserve concludes its latest meeting on Wednesday, and is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged.

"We expect the FOMC remains on hold at 5.375% but opens the door to a September rate cut," Morgan Stanley said in a recent note.

Chair Powell is expected to signal that the Fed is |close to lowering its target rate," Morgan Stanley adds, but will likely avoid to committing to a "cadence of cuts."

The primary factor moving the FOMC closer to a cut is the favorable inflation data from May and June. After firmer inflation figures in the first quarter—attributed largely to residual seasonality and typical month-to-month noise—the second quarter saw significant improvement in inflation news.

Traders were seen pricing in a 25 basis point cut by the Fed in September, CME Fedwatch showed.

Apple, Microsoft to report this week

Earnings reports from some of Wall Street’s biggest companies are also on tap this week, with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) set to report on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.

Other tech majors including Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) are also set to report earnings through the week.

The results come in the wake of an extended rout in technology stocks, as the sector was walloped by profit-taking and as expectations of rate cuts saw investors pivot into more economically sensitive sectors.

Underwhelming earnings from Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last week also sparked increased caution ahead of the tech earnings, with investors waiting to see whether increased investment in artificial intelligence was bearing fruit.

McDonald's higher despite Q2 results miss; Stellantis hits lows on downgrade; Tesla gains on Morgan Stanley backing;

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) stock rose nearly 4% even as it reported a surprise drop in quarterly global comparable sales. Some on Wall Street expressed optimism about the fast-food chain’s five-dollar mea deals, which were launched on Jun. 25, delivering improved results in the back half of the year.

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) gained 5% after Morgan Stanley named the the stock as its top pick among U.S. auto stocks.

Stellantis NV (NYSE:STLA) fell nearly 4% to 52-week lows after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to hold from buy on concerns about whether automaker will meet its guidance amid a raft issues including inventory and pricing.

Labor market in focus

The week's main economic data release will be Friday's nonfarm payrolls number, with economists expecting the U.S. economy to have created 177,000 jobs in July, moderating from 206,000 in the prior month.

That said, there are a raft of employment reports through the week, such as the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, ADP Employment and weekly jobless claims, due ahead of that which will also be scrutinized for concrete clues on an easing labor market.

"We expect Hurricane Beryl held down nonfarm payroll employment in July," UBS said in a recent note.

(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)

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