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By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK (Reuters) -The S&P 500 closed a choppy session nearly unchanged on Monday, weighed down by megacaps as investors awaited several catalysts including key economic data and earnings from some of the largest U.S. companies.
Megacaps Nvidia , off 2.1%, and Amazon , down 0.7%, were the primary drags on the benchmark S&P 500 index and also kept the Nasdaq in negative territory.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that China's Huawei Technologies was preparing to test its artificial-intelligence processor, which it hopes can replace some of Nvidia's higher-end products.
Of the so-called Magnificent Seven heavyweight companies, Amazon is scheduled to report quarterly results later this week, along with Apple, Meta Platforms and Microsoft . Apple, up 0.4%, and Meta up 0.5%, both helped counter the declines in Nvidia and Amazon.
In all, 180 S&P 500 components are set to report earnings this week, and investors are likely to closely monitor how U.S. President Donald Trump's new tariffs could affect future profits.
"We're going to get four of the Mag 7 reporting this week and so this is a very important earnings week," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital in Chicago.
"I'd love to hear any kind of forward guidance and it will be really interesting to hear some of these CEOs talk about how they're planning to navigate the potential trade war."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 114.09 points, or 0.28%, to 40,227.59, the S&P 500 gained 3.54 points, or 0.06%, to 5,528.75 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 16.81 points, or 0.10%, to 17,366.13.
The slight gain for the S&P 500 marked its fifth straight daily advance, its longest streak of gains since early November.
Though first-quarter earnings from S&P 500 companies are expected to climb 10.9% from a year ago, according to LSEG data, many firms have warned of the uncertainty caused by U.S. trade policy, with some cutting or completely pulling forecasts.
Of the 179 S&P companies that have reported, 78 had negative earnings outlooks and 32 had positive forecasts, for a 2.4 ratio, slightly below the 2.6 in the year-ago period, LSEG data showed.
Investors will also parse important economic data, including the personal consumption expenditures price index and a flurry of labor market data culminating in the monthly U.S. payrolls report on Friday.
A 2.4% gain in Boeing shares helped keep the Dow in positive territory after Bernstein raised the aircraft maker's stock rating and price target.