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Indexes: Dow down 0.36%, S&P 500 up 0.31%, Nasdaq up 0.85%

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Alphabet gains after court ruling on Chrome browser

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Macy's soars after annual forecast hike

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July job openings fall in July

(Updates with afternoon prices)

By Purvi Agarwal and Ragini Mathur

Sept 3 (Reuters) -

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq advanced on Wednesday as Alphabet

hit an intraday record high thanks to a favorable antitrust

ruling, while softer-than-expected July job openings data drove

up bets of an interest-rate cut in September.

Alphabet jumped 8.1% after a Washington judge

ruled late on Tuesday Google will not have to sell its Chrome

browser, but will have to share data with rivals.

Apple ( AAPL ) gained 2.6% as the ruling also allowed Google

to keep making lucrative payments to the iPhone maker.

The communication services index jumped 3.1% to a

record high, and tech stocks gained 0.6%. Energy

stocks fell 1.6%, tracking lower oil prices.

Strengthening bets of an imminent interest-rate cut, a

Labor Department report showed U.S.

job openings fell

more than expected in July and hiring was moderate,

consistent with easing labor market conditions.

"It is the latest data point that reiterates a soft jobs

market and helps tip the Fed's scale toward a rate cut, which

we're now likely to see later this month," said Bret Kenwell,

U.S. investment analyst at eToro.

Traders are now pricing in a 95.6% chance of a September

rate cut, per CME Group's FedWatch tool, compared with nearly

92% before the data.

The spotlight is now on Friday's highly anticipated nonfarm

payrolls numbers, especially after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome

Powell's comments at Jackson Hole last month signaled labor

market weakness could be the deciding factor for its rate

decision on September 17.

"If those (NFP) numbers come out really strong, meaning

really tight labor conditions and everything's fine, the

market's going to get a little bit worried," said Jason Barsema,

president of Halo Investing.

The market is looking for something to convince the Fed to

cut, he said.

At 11:59 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 162.75 points, or 0.36%, to 45,133.04, the S&P 500

gained 19.62 points, or 0.31%, to 6,435.20 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 181.62 points, or 0.85%, to 21,461.25.

Declines in industrial stocks weighed on the Dow.

Wall Street closed sharply lower on Tuesday, pressured by

rising yields after a court ruling last week deemed most of U.S.

President Donald Trump's tariffs illegal, reviving some fiscal

concerns.

Yields on the 30-year note touched 5% on

Wednesday for the first time since July 18, and was last at

4.8917%.

September has been historically dour for U.S. equities,

with the index losing 1.5% in the month on average since the

turn of the century, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Department store operator Macy's soared 17% after

raising its annual forecasts. Discount retailer Dollar Tree ( DLTR )

dropped 7.1% despite a forecast hike, becoming the

biggest decliner on the S&P 500.

Fed officials provided mixed signals on monetary policy.

Governor Christopher Waller repeated his rate-cut call, while

Atlanta's Raphael Bostic said a single quarter-point cut this

year was warranted.

St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem did not clarify his

stance, while Neel Kashkari is scheduled to speak later in the

day.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.12-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.18-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows while

the Nasdaq Composite recorded 76 new highs and 76 new lows.

(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal and Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru;

Editing by Devika Syamnath)