* Indexes up: Dow 0.22%, S&P 0.46%, Nasdaq 0.76%

* US job growth beats expectations in April

* Microchip Technology up after upbeat Q1 forecast

* Cloudflare ( NET ) plunges; Q2 forecast below estimates

(Updates after market open)

By Sruthi Shankar and Utkarsh Hathi

May 8 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq reached

record highs on Friday, driven by gains in Nvidia ( NVDA ) and other

technology stocks, while a stronger-than-expected jobs report

eased concerns over the state of the labor market.

Tech heavyweights Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Apple ( AAPL ) rose

more than 2% each, while a broader index of chipmakers

recovered from Thursday's declines to touch a fresh peak on

expectations of strong AI infrastructure demand.

Data showed U.S. employment increased more than expected in

April while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, pointing

to labor market resilience and reinforcing expectations that the

Federal Reserve would leave interest rates unchanged for some

time.

"It confirms that we have a solid labor market that would

offer some confidence to consumers so that they can continue

their resilient spending patterns," said Sam Stovall, chief

investment strategist at CFRA Research.

Traders continued to bet the central bank will hold interest

rates steady in the 3.50% to 3.75% range until the end of the

year.

At 09:41 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 106.64 points, or 0.22%, to 49,703.61, the S&P 500

added 33.47 points, or 0.46%, to 7,371.21, and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 195.50 points, or 0.76%, to 26,001.69.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were on track for a sixth

straight week of gains, the longest such winning streak since

October 2024. The Dow was set for a second consecutive week of

gains.

The overall optimism helped investors look past fresh

attacks between U.S. and Iranian forces in the Gulf.

Oil prices earlier touched $100 a barrel,

before easing slightly on fading hopes of a resolution to the

Middle East conflict and a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a

key transit route for oil and liquefied natural gas.

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that a

foreign ministry spokesperson had said Tehran was still weighing

its response to a U.S. proposal.

STRONG EARNINGS

Despite concerns that oil prices were fueling inflation, the

S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have hit record highs,

helped by a strong earnings season, signs of a resilient economy

and optimism around the outlook for technology and AI

companies.

Of the 440 S&P 500 companies that have reported

first-quarter results so far, 83% have topped analysts' earnings

estimates, according to data compiled by LSEG. That compares

with a long-term average of about 67%.

However, there were some earnings disappointments on the

day.

Cloudflare ( NET ) shares plunged 18.6% after the cloud

services company said it would cut about 20% of its workforce

and forecast second-quarter revenue slightly below Wall Street

expectations.

Trade Desk ( TTD ) fell 5.3% after the ad-tech firm forecast

second-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates.

CoreWeave ( CRWV ) dropped 9% after the cloud infrastructure

technology company raised the lower end of its annual capital

expenditure forecast, citing a rise in component costs.

Online travel platform Expedia ( EXPE ) slipped 8.7% after

it flagged the conflict in the Middle East was weighing on

demand.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.41-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.08-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and six new lows,

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 59 new highs and 43 new

lows.