*

Salesforce ( CRM ) jumps after beating Q3 revenue estimates

*

November ADP private payrolls at 146,000 versus 150,000

estimate

*

ISM non-manufacturing PMI at 52.1 in November, below

estimates

*

Indexes up: Dow 0.6%, S&P 500 0.5%, Nasdaq 1.2%

(Updates to afternoon)

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters) -

U.S. stocks were solidly higher in afternoon trading on

Wednesday as technology shares rose after upbeat results from

Salesforce ( CRM ), while indexes added to gains following comments by

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq touched record highs.

Powell said the economy is stronger than it had appeared in

September when the central bank began cutting interest rates.

That could possibly allow policymakers to be more cautious in

cutting rates further, he said.

Powell's comments overall along with the Beige Book

report added to the upbeat tone in the market, said Peter

Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities

in New York.

The central bank's Beige Book released Wednesday

afternoon showed economic activity rose slightly in most Fed

districts.

Powell "was very upbeat about economy, and he said we're

making progress on inflation... that's good news for stocks in

general," Cardillo said.

Salesforce ( CRM ) jumped 8.9% to an all-time high after

the enterprise cloud company beat Street estimates for

third-quarter revenue and raised the lower end of its annual

revenue forecast.

Other cloud companies also jumped, and the S&P 500

technology index hit a record high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 271.98

points, or 0.61%, to 44,977.51, the S&P 500 gained 30.92

points, or 0.51%, to 6,080.80 and the Nasdaq Composite

gained 226.32 points, or 1.16%, to 19,707.23.

Also gaining, Marvell Technology ( MRVL ) advanced 24% to a

record high after the chipmaker forecast fourth-quarter revenue

above analyst estimates, while the broader Semiconductor index

rose 1.6%.

Investors await monthly U.S. jobs data due on Friday.

Investors expect a third consecutive interest-rate cut

at the central bank's Dec. 17-18 meeting.

Earlier, U.S.

private payrolls

data showed a modest increase in November.

Separately, a survey from the Institute for Supply

Management showed U.S. services sector activity slowed in

November after big gains in recent months. The final reading of

the S&P services survey was revised lower to 56.1.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.01-to-1

ratio on the NYSE. There were 311 new highs and 64 new lows on

the NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, 2,223 stocks rose and 2,027 fell as

advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.1-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 27 new 52-week highs and 6 new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 134 new highs and 90 new

lows.

(Additional reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Purvi Agarwal in

Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and David Gregorio)