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

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

plan

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Wall St's fear gauge eases after Powell's comments

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Indexes up: Dow 1.17%, S&P 500 1.14%, Nasdaq 1.49%

(Updates at 11:41 a.m. ET/ 1541 GMT)

By Medha Singh and Johann M Cherian

Aug 23 (Reuters) - All three major U.S. stock indexes

gained more 1% on Friday, with the benchmark S&P 500 nearing an

all-time 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.

Minutes from the Fed's July meeting had also showed a number

of policymakers were ready to consider rate reductions come

September.

"Powell is really data driven. The unemployment is not

alarming but it's certainly higher than it has been in the past

and that would be something for him to take action on," said Kim

Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners.

"These comments point to cuts beginning and the market is

nodding its head in agreement."

Traders have fully priced in a rate cut at the Fed's Sept.

17-18 meet, with a 65.5% chance that the central bank will lower

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

FedWatch tool.

Dovish comments from Fed officials and a slate of data

signaling the economy was slowing only gradually have helped

U.S. stocks recover from a rout earlier this month that was

driven by a dour July employment report and yen carry trade.

The S&P 500 is now less than 1% away from a record high

touched in July, after falling as much as 9.7% from that level

earlier in August.

At 11:41 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 475.25 points, or 1.17%, to 41,188.03, the S&P 500

gained 63.58 points, or 1.14%, to 5,634.22 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 262.29 points, or 1.49%, to 17,881.65.

The domestically focused Russell 2000 advanced 3.1%,

while the rate-sensitive KBW Regional Banking index

jumped 5.4%.

Wall Street's fear gauge, the CBOE market volatility

index, dipped 1.06 points to 16.49.

All major S&P 500 sectors were higher, with megacap

growth names such as Nvidia ( NVDA ), Broadcom ( AVGO ) and

Apple among the top boosts to the index.

Wall Street's three main indexes were poised to rise

over 1%, gaining for the second straight week.

Among other movers, Workday shares jumped 11.6%

after the human resource software provider beat market

expectations for second-quarter revenue and announced a $1

billion stock buyback plan.

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

raised its fiscal 2024 profit forecast.

Intuit lost 7.7% after the TurboTax parent forecast

first-quarter revenue below Wall Street expectations.

Latest data from the Commerce Department's Census Bureau was

also encouraging, showing sales of new U.S. single-family homes

rose to their highest level in more than a year in July.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 10.48-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 4.3-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 74 new 52-week highs and no new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 122 new highs and 34 new

lows.