US STOCKS-Wall St lifted by tech stocks; Fed officials cast doubts on further rate cuts

By Purvi Agarwal and Sukriti Gupta

Sept 22 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes inched higher on Monday, with technology shares boosting the Nasdaq to a record, while markets digested comments from numerous Federal Reserve officials.

The S&P 500 information technology sector .SPLRCT was the biggest gainer, lifted by a 4% gain in Apple AAPL.O after Wedbush raised the stock's target price on strong demand signs for the iPhone 17. It also kept the Dow afloat.

Tesla TSLA.O gained 3.4%, boosting consumer discretionary stocks .SPLRCD on the S&P 500. Both Apple and Tesla hit their highest levels in more than eight months.

Wall Street had opened lower on the day, briefly pulling back from its recent rally. The three indexes closed at record highs on Friday.

"The Mag 7 (Magnificent Seven) names account for a very large percentage of the broad market ... it's really hard for the S&P 500 to go higher without them doing well," said Eddie Ghabour, CEO of Key Advisors Wealth Management.

"If investors (are) trying to beat the S&P 500, you're having this natural flow of funds going into tech."

At 12:13 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 21.17 points, or 0.05%, to 46,337.39, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 15.48 points, or 0.23%, to 6,680.00 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 93.12 points, or 0.41%, to 22,724.59.

Investors parsed through comments from Fed policymakers, who cast doubt on the need for further rate cuts when inflation was above the central bank's 2% target and the job market remained near full employment.

This follows the Fed's meeting last week where it delivered an expected 25 basis point cut and indicated more cuts at its upcoming meetings.

Meanwhile, some tech companies slipped after the Trump administration said on Friday it would ask companies to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B working visas, as these firms are heavily reliant on skilled workers from India and China.

Wall Street's three main indexes are in positive territory so far in September - a month deemed historically bad for U.S. equities. The S&P 500 has shed 1.4% on average in the month since 2000, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Numerous datasets are scheduled for release this week, including that for personal consumption expenditure - the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation - and gross domestic product.

Kenvue KVUE.N fell 6.4% to the bottom of the S&P 500. A report earlier this month said that the Trump administration planned to announce that use of Kenvue's pain medication, Tylenol, by pregnant women is potentially linked to autism. The findings are due on Monday.

Metsera MTSR.O soared 62% as Pfizer PFE.N said it would acquire weight-loss drug developer in a deal valued up to $7.3 billion. Shares of Pfizer rose 1.8%.

Compass COMP.N fell 14% after the brokerage firm entered an agreement to acquire rival Anywhere Real Estate HOUS.N in an all-stock deal valued at $4.2 billion. Anywhere's shares were up 50%.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.33-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.02-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and 15 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 110 new highs and 47 new lows.