NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks opened higher on Monday to start a week where tech heavyweight earnings and an interest rate decision by the US central bank are set to come under the spotlight.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1 percent to 38,150.86, while the broad-based S&P 500 edged up 0.1 percent as well to 4,895.52.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index crept higher by the same magnitude to 15,468.33.

Wall Street Week Ahead: Fed, earnings and economic data to test US stocks at record highs

“It will be a huge week for earnings reporting with approximately 20 percent of the S&P 500 (and 40 percent of its market capitalization) reporting quarterly results,” said Patrick O’Hare, of Briefing.com, in a note.

Major tech companies whose earnings are due include Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet, Apple and Facebook parent Meta.

This week, the Federal Reserve is also holding a two-day meeting that will culminate in its latest decision on interest rates levels, which traders will be closely watching.

“The Federal Reserve is largely expected to hold interest rates steady and make only a subtle change to the policy statement,” said Art Hogan, of B. Riley Wealth Management.

But he added that Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference after the rate announcement “will be closely watched for any hawkish or dovish tilt.”

Other key economic figures due this week include numbers on the job market.

“The guidance heard from the Treasury on how it plans to distribute its debt issuance, the guidance heard from Fed Chair Powell on the Fed’s policy-setting thoughts, and the guidance on geopolitical dealings will be market movers,” said O’Hare.

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