NEW YORK, July 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended higher on Monday as investors waited for a major policy decision from the Federal Reserve and a busy week of key earnings reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 183.55 points, or 0.52 percent, to 35,411.24. The S&P 500 added 18.30 points, or 0.40 percent, to 4,554.64. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 26.06 points, or 0.19 percent, to 14,058.87.
Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with energy and financials leading the gainers by rising 1.66 percent and 1.01 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, utilities and health lost 0.28 percent and 0.23 percent, respectively.
U.S. stocks climbed to start the week as the Dow finished Monday with an 11th straight day of advances, amid hopes that cooling inflation will allow the Fed to end its tightening campaign soon.
The U.S. central bank is widely anticipated to raise interest rates by a quarter percentage point at its July 25-26 meeting to a target range of 5.25 percent to 5.5 percent.
With price pressures easing recently, this week's widely expected hike might prove to be the last in its tightening cycle, according to many economists who have spoken publicly, including former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke.
Equity markets are treading water at the start of what is going to be a very lively week, said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.
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"There are some huge central bank meetings this week, the most notable naturally being the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. Interest rates are finally at or very close to their peaks and this week could see the Fed and ECB (European Central Bank) announce the last rate hike in their tightening cycles," Erlam said.
The probability of a U.S. recession in the coming year has declined, as recent economic data signal that bringing inflation down to an acceptable level will not require a downturn, according to an analysis published by Goldman Sachs Research.
"The Fed is almost certain to hike interest rates by 25 basis points to 5.25-5.5 percent at the July 25-26 meeting. But our economists expect it to be the last of the cycle," the analysis said.
Investors are also waiting for a busy week of corporate earnings, with several big tech giants due to report this week. Microsoft and Alphabet will present their results on Tuesday, followed by Meta and Intel, with artificial intelligence advancements in focus.
"We expect big tech earnings to be mixed and the real test will be for companies that have significant exposure to artificial intelligence as investors are eager to see if these companies can report strong enough results to support their significantly elevated share prices in recent months," said James Demmert, chief investment officer at Main Street Research, in an interview with Bloomberg.