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Indexes up: S&P 500 0.79%, Nasdaq 0.95%, Dow 0.83%

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US job growth beats expectations in June

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Tripadvisor ( TRIP ) gains on report Starboard Value built stake

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Synopsys ( SNPS ), Cadence rise as US lifts China export curbs

(Updates with context on Nvidia ( NVDA ))

By Sruthi Shankar and Nikhil Sharma

July 3 (Reuters) -

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq touched fresh record highs on

Thursday after a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report pointed

to labor market resilience, while Nvidia ( NVDA ) looked set to become

the most valuable company in history.

Nvidia ( NVDA )

rose as much as 2.4%, putting it on track to

become the world's most valuable company in history, with the

chipmaker's market capitalization nearing $4 trillion. Its

shares were last up 1.6%, trading at all-time highs.

Data showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 147,000 jobs last

month after an upwardly revised 144,000 advance in May, while

economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls rising

110,000. Unemployment fell to 4.1% last month, against

expectations of a rise to 4.3%.

"We were all expecting the hard data would start to show

some cracks, and we really haven't seen that with the jobs

report coming in much better than expected," said Brian Klimke,

chief market strategist at Cetera Investment Management LLC.

"That just puts the Fed on pause and gives it more time to

wait right now because the labor market is really resilient."

Traders quickly priced out chances of an interest-rate cut

in July, with the odds of a 25-basis-point reduction in

September at 68%, according to CME Group's Fedwatch tool, down

from 74% a week ago.

The report was released a day early because of the

Independence Day holiday on Friday. Trading volumes were lighter

than usual on Thursday with markets due to close early, at 1

p.m. ET.

Separate data showed the number of Americans filing new

applications for jobless benefits fell to a six-week low last

week and U.S. services sector activity picked up in June as

orders rebounded but employment contracted for the third time

this year, underlining the impact of policy uncertainty on

businesses.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq extended their record-winning

session as signs of a resilient economy and easing trade

tensions following a series of agreements between the United

States and other countries continue to propel stocks higher.

The blue-chip Dow was just 0.8% shy of all-time highs

touched in December.

All three main indexes were on track to end the

holiday-truncated week on a positive note, if gains hold.

Meanwhile, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives

advanced President Donald Trump's massive tax-cut and spending

bill toward a final yes-or-no vote, appearing to overcome

internal party divisions over its cost.

The legislation is expected to add $3.4 trillion to the

nation's $36.2 trillion in debt over the next decade, according

to nonpartisan analysts.

At 11:04 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose

371.39 points, or 0.83%, to 44,852.70, the S&P 500 gained

49.57 points, or 0.79%, to 6,276.69, and the Nasdaq Composite

gained 193.63 points, or 0.95%, to 20,586.75.

Shares of chip design software firms Synopsys ( SNPS ) and

Cadence Design Systems ( CDNS ) climbed 5.1% and 4.6%,

respectively, in premarket trading after the U.S. lifted export

restrictions on chip design software to China, signaling a thaw

in trade tensions between the world's top two economies.

Tripadvisor ( TRIP ) climbed 16.3% after the Wall Street

Journal reported activist investor Starboard Value had built a

more than 9% stake in the online travel company.

Datadog ( DDOG ) jumped 13.5% after the cloud security firm

was set to replace Juniper Networks on the S&P 500.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.09-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and 1.93-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 38 new 52-week highs and one new low,

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 102 new highs and 18 new

lows.