* Tesla to report Q1 earnings after markets close
* Financials, energy lead gains among S&P 500 sectors
* Indexes up: Dow 0.05%, S&P 0.20%, Nasdaq 0.58%
(Adds comment, updates prices to early afternoon)
By Shivani Kumaresan and Shreyashi Sanyal
April 26 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes rose on
Monday as electric-car maker Tesla gained ahead its earnings
report, kicking off this week's results from heavyweight
technology companies.
Tesla Inc TSLA.O advanced 1.3% as analysts expect the
company to report a rise in first-quarter revenue following
record deliveries. Its results are due after markets close.
Companies that constitute about 40% of the S&P 500's market
cap 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 were
higher in early afternoon trading.
"Investors are anticipating either good results from tech or
certainly much improved guidance, with the pandemic fears being
reduced," said Rick Meckler, partner, Cherry Lane Investments,
New Jersey.
"Two big concerns for the market right now is the tech
earnings picture... and inflation as there are a lot of stories
about price rise on the horizon."
Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were trading higher,
with financials .SPSY and energy .SPNY gaining the most,
while defensive utilities .SPLRCU and consumer staples
.SPLRCS led declines.
Of the 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.
Investors are monitoring 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 changed its
plans to leave interest rates near zero for an extended time and
to continue buying $120 billion in bonds each month.
Also on the radar is a reading of first-quarter gross
domestic product later this week to gauge the pace of economic
recovery in the United States.
At 12:05 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 17.83 points, or 0.05%, at 34,061.32, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 8.51 points, or 0.20%, at 4,188.68 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 80.85 points, or 0.58%, at 14,097.66.
Market participants are also watching out for any fresh
developments on 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 rose 5%
each as bitcoin BTC=BTSP looked set to snap five straight days
of losses.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.13-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 2.47-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 103 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 132 new highs and 16 new lows.