US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq close at record highs ahead of tech earnings wave

* Tesla to report Q1 earnings after markets close
* Energy among strongest S&P 500 sectors

(Updates with market close)
By Shivani Kumaresan and Noel Randewich
April 26 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record
highs on Monday, fueled by Tesla Inc ahead of the electric car
maker's quarterly report, the first of several this week from
heavyweight growth companies.
The Nasdaq's record high close confirmed the end of an 11%
correction in the index that began after its previous record
high close on Feb. 12.
Tesla TSLA.O advanced ahead of its report due after the
bell, with analysts expecting the company to show a rise in
first-quarter revenue following record deliveries. Companies that constitute about 40% of the S&P 500's market
capitalization report from Tuesday through Thursday, including
Microsoft Corp MSFT.O , Google parent Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O ,
Apple Inc AAPL.O and Facebook Inc FB.O . Shares of the
companies also rose.
Most of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors climbed, with the
energy index .SPNY among the top performers, while utilities
.SPLRCU and consumer staples .SPLRCS declined.
Of 124 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported so far,
85.5% have topped analysts' earnings estimates, with Refinitiv
IBES data now predicting a 34.3% jump in profit growth.
“We're way above the average for firms reporting earnings
above estimates. More important than the fact that they are
beating on estimates is that they are raising their expectations
and outlooks going forward, and that's giving the markets a nice
boost,” said Sal Bruno, chief investment officer at IndexIQ.
Investors will monitor a two-day Federal Reserve meeting
beginning Tuesday, with the U.S. central bank expected to shine
some light on whether the employment landscape has affected its
plan to leave interest rates near zero for an extended time and
to continue buying $120 billion in bonds each month.

Also on investors' radar is a reading of first-quarter gross
domestic product later this week to gauge the pace of economic
recovery in the United States.
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
0.18% to end at 33,981.97 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX
gained 0.18% to 4,187.74.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC climbed 0.87% to 14,138.78.
Market participants are also watching out for any fresh
developments on U.S. President Joe Biden's tax plan after
reports last week said he would seek to nearly double the
capital gains tax to 39.6% for wealthy individuals. Cryptocurrency and blockchain-related firms, including Riot
Blockchain RIOT.O and Marathon Patent Group MARA.O , surged
as bitcoin BTC=BTSP snapped five straight days of losses.