Wall Street stocks edged higher Monday ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq finishing at fresh records after a choppy session.

While the Fed is expected to hold interest rates steady, the central bank's commentary will be analyzed for its implications for monetary policy later in 2024.

Investors are also looking ahead to a key consumer price report, which will be released on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.2 percent at 38,868.04.

The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.3 percent to 5,360.79, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.4 percent to 17,192.53.

Among individual companies, Southwest Airlines jumped 7.0 percent following a Wall Street Journal report that activist fund Elliott Investment Management took a stake of nearly $2 billion in the struggling airline.

Apple fell 1.9 percent as it unveiled "Apple Intelligence," its suite of new AI features for its coveted devices -- including a partnership with Open AI. 

Diamond Offshore jumped 10.9 percent after the oil services company agreed to be acquired by Noble Corp in a deal combining offshore drilling companies worth about $1.6 billion. Noble rose 6.1 percent.