Stock Market Today: S&P 500 closes higher as tech jumps ahead of Fed meeting

Investing.com -- The S&P 500 closed higher Monday, led by tech as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve meeting and interest-rate outlook this week.

At 16:00 ET (20:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 75 points, or 0.2%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.7% and the NASDAQ Composite added 0.8%.

Fed rate outlook in focus after recent hot inflation readings

The Fed meeting kicks off its two-day meeting on Tuesday that will likely result in an unchanged interest rate decision on Tuesday. The meeting follows recent data showing that inflation continues to run hot, stoking investor jitters that the central bank may reduce its projection on how many rate cuts are needed this year.

In December, the Fed members projected three cuts for this year, but some on Wall Street believe that could be reduced to two.

"We expect a modest shift towards only 2 cuts in 2024, followed by the same number in the following two years, a 25 bp shift higher across the curve," Jefferies said in a recent note.

Apple reportedly eyeing team-up with Alphabet's Gen-AI Gemini; Tesla; Hashicorp jumps on sale speculation

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is in talks with Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google unit to use the latter's Gemini generative artificial intelligence engine to incorporate AI features into its flagship iPhones, according to a report from Bloomberg Monday.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose 6% after the electric carmaker said it would increase the price of its Model Y EVs in some European countries by about 2,000 euros this week. The EV maker has been under pressure in recent weeks on concerns about demand amid rising competition.

Hashicorp Inc (NASDAQ:HCP) gained 8% after Bloomberg reported that the company is mulling a potential sale.

Chip stocks in holding pattern ahead of Nvidia conference

Nvidia's (NASDAQ:NVDA) GTC conference in San Jose, California gets underway on Tuesday, when the chipmaker is widely expected to unveil its new flagship chips catered specifically for AI development.

CEO Jensen Huang will deliver the keynote address later on Monday, and is expected to showcase Nvidia’s next generation AI chip, which is rumored to called the B100.

Nvidia's management "has already characterized demand [for the B100] as initially expected to significantly exceed supply capabilities," Wedbush said in a note.

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

This article first appeared in Investing.com