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S&P 500 edges up, helped by energy as investor eye rate outlook

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Sept 25 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 rose modestly on Monday, helped by Amazon.com shares and the energy sector, as Treasury yields increased and investors looked to economic data and Federal Reserve policymakers' remarks later in the week for clarity on the path for interest rates.

Stocks rebounded after the S&P 500 last week posted its biggest weekly drop since March. Investors are grappling with the rise in Treasury yields to 16-year highs after the Fed gave a hawkish longer-term rate outlook.

There is a "tug of war between investors seemingly getting more concerned about 'higher for longer' ... and bulls wondering maybe we have seen the correction and we can start to build from these levels higher," said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 35.07 points, or 0.10%, to 33,928.77, the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 6.29 points, or 0.15%, at 4,326.40 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 26.75 points, or 0.20%, at 13,238.56.

Among S&P 500 sectors, energy (.SPNY) led the way, rising 1.4%. The rate-sensitive utilities (.SPLRCU) and consumer staples (.SPLRCS) sectors fell 0.5% and 0.7%, respectively.

The CBOE volatility index (.VIX), known as Wall Street's "fear gauge," touched its highest level in more than a month.

The S&P 500 has slid about 6% since late July but remains up over 12% for 2023.

Investors through the week will be monitoring data including on durable goods and the personal consumption expenditures price index for August, and second-quarter Gross Domestic Product, as well as remarks by Fed policymakers, including Chair Jerome Powell.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said in an interview with CNBC on Monday that inflation staying above the Fed's 2% target remains a greater risk than tight central bank policy slowing the economy more than needed.

In company news, Amazon.com (AMZN.O) shares rose 1.6% after the e-commerce giant said it will invest up to $4 billion in startup Anthropic to compete with growing cloud rivals in artificial intelligence.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.2-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 48 new highs and 296 new lows on the NYSE. Advancing issues were roughly even with decliners on the Nasdaq.

Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf in New York, Ankika Biswas and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Maju Samuel and Richard Chang

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