NEW YORK?Wall Street shares closed Monday with modest gains as investors eagerly awaited a key Federal Reserve meeting on possible measures to boost the faltering US economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 45.19 points (0.42 percent) at 10,698.75, rebounding from Friday's news that the US economy shed more jobs in July than expected.

The tech-rich Nasdaq composite index rose by 17.22 points (0.75 percent) to 2,305.69, while the broader S&P 500 index gained 6.15 points (0.55 percent) at 1,127.79.

Investors "maintained their focus on the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated assessment of the economy, which is set to hit the Street tomorrow afternoon," Andrea Kramer of Schaeffer's Investment Research said.

The Federal Reserve's rate-setting panel will meet Tuesday amid pressure to resume crisis-era spending to restart a stalled recovery in the wake of last Friday's disappointing jobs report which added to worries about the economy.

The panel is expected to keep interest rates at historic lows, but Fed watchers will be looking for any hint of a return to stimulus spending.

"Many on the street are hoping the central bank will resume some of its economic stimulus measures from earlier in the year, such as buying mortgage-backed securities or Treasury bonds," said Kramer.

"Against this optimistic backdrop, the major market indexes finished the session solidly north of breakeven."

Markets were boosted on Monday by news that McDonald's sales rose seven percent in July, on growing business in Asia, the Middle East and Africa and thanks to sales of new fruit smoothies.

"We're listening to our customers and offering the right combination of high-quality food and beverage choices, convenient locations with extended hours, and outstanding value across the entire menu," said CEO Jim Skinner.

Its shares were up over 1.6 percent.

Shares in Hewlett-Packard nose-dived nearly eight percent from Friday's close, when chief executive Mark Hurd resigned after an accusation of sexual harassment uncovered subterfuge with company expenses.

Bonds were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond fell to 2.820 percent from 2.824 percent while that on the 30-year Treasury bond rose to 4.011 percent from 4.002 percent. Bond yield and prices move in opposite directions.