(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

*

Fed's Powell says 'time has come' to cut interest rates

*

GM up after Cruise to offer robotaxis on Uber's ( UBER ) platform

*

Workday jumps after Q2 revenue beat, $1 bln share buyback

plan

*

Indexes up: Dow 0.7%, S&P 500 1.01%, Nasdaq 1.45%

(Updated at 10:05 a.m. ET/1405 GMT)

By Medha Singh and Johann M Cherian

Aug 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street's stock indexes jumped on

Friday, with the benchmark S&P 500 index nearing a record high,

after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said "the time has

come" to reduce interest rates.

At a highly anticipated annual economic conference in

Jackson Hole, Powell endorsed

imminent policy easing

citing risks in the job market and inflation coming within

reach of the Fed's 2% target.

The S&P 500 extended early gains and was less than 1%

away from surpassing a record high clinched in July, after

falling as much as 9.7% from that level earlier this month.

Megacap growth names such as Meta and

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) climbed 1% each, boosting the index, while

chip stocks such as Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Broadcom ( AVGO ) rose

more than 3% each.

At 10:05 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 302.68 points, or 0.74%, to 41,015.46, the S&P 500

gained 56.13 points, or 1.01%, to 5,626.77 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 255.03 points, or 1.45%, to 17,874.38.

The three indexes were on track for their second

straight week of gains, with the S&P 500 poised for an over 1%

rise.

All S&P 500 sectors advanced, led by a 1.4% rise in

technology stocks, while the Philadelphia chip index

advanced 2.2%.

Meanwhile, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said the

Fed is on the cusp of being in a position to start lowering its

benchmark interest rate, according to a report.

The Fed is scheduled to meet on Sept. 17 and 18, with

traders pricing in a 71.5% chance that the central bank will cut

borrowing costs by 25 basis points, according to CME Group's

FedWatch tool.

"The market has been predicting the first rate cut to

start going back to March of this year and investors have been

disappointed multiple times," said Sam Stovall, chief investment

strategist at CFRA Research in New York.

"The only question is by how much and, unlike the sprinters

in the Olympics, the Fed will not explode out of the blocks with

a 50-basis-point cut."

Minutes from the Fed's July meeting this week showed a

number of policymakers were ready to consider rate cuts come

September, while recent economic data signaled the U.S. economy

was slowing, albeit gradually, assuaging fears over a sharp

downturn.

That has helped Wall Street's three main indexes recover

from a plunge earlier this month triggered by a dour July

employment report and yen carry trade.

Among other movers on Friday, Workday shares

jumped 11.2% after the human resource software provider beat

market expectations for second-quarter revenue and announced a

$1 billion stock buyback plan.

Cruise will offer its autonomous vehicles on ride-hailing

platform Uber ( UBER ) starting next year, the companies said,

as the General Motors ( GM )-backed robotaxi firm attempts a

comeback, sending shares of the automaker up 2.2%.

Ross Stores ( ROST ) gained 3.8% after the discount retailer

raised its fiscal 2024 profit forecast.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 9.02-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 3.95-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 52 new 52-week highs and no new lows,

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 57 new highs and 25 new

lows.