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Fed's July meet minutes to be released at 2:00 p.m. ET

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Target ( TGT ) jumps after lifting FY profit forecast

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JD.com ( JD ) slides after Walmart ( WMT ) sells $3.74 bln stake

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Indexes: Dow down 0.07%, S&P 500 up 0.12%, Nasdaq up 0.13%

(Updated at 11:50 a.m. ET/ 1550 GMT)

By Shashwat Chauhan and Johann M Cherian

Aug 21 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq edged up

on Wednesday as a sharp downward revision in U.S. jobs data for

the year ended March 2024 indicated a slowdown in the labor

market, propping up hopes the Federal Reserve would cut interest

rates next month.

A Labor Department report showed U.S. employers added far

fewer jobs than was originally estimated for the year through

March.

"A deteriorating labor market will allow the Fed to

highlight both sides of the dual mandate and investors should

expect the Fed to prepare markets for a cut at the September

meeting," said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial.

Financial markets are currently pricing in a near 70%

likelihood of a 25 basis-points interest rate cut by the Fed in

September, according to CME's FedWatch tool.

Eight of the 11 major S&P sectors were trading higher, with

materials and energy leading the gains.

Consumer staples sector rose 0.5% to a record

high, boosted by a 12.5% surge in Target's ( TGT ) shares after

the retailer raised its full-year profit forecast and reported

its first increase in quarterly comparable sales in over a year.

The focus is now on the minutes from the Fed's July policy

meeting, expected to be released at 2:00 p.m. ET, at which Chair

Jerome Powell hinted at a possible interest rate reduction in

September.

Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital

Markets, said he would look for any signs of dissension about

easing policy in the Fed minutes.

"We want to see if there was dissension, and will this lead

to a definitive cut (next month)?"

The centerpiece event of the week is the Jackson Hole

economic symposium on Friday, at which Powell will speak. Market

participants will look for hints in his comments on the pace of

monetary policy easing following a batch of mixed economic data

recently.

At 11:50 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 30.13 points, or 0.07%, to 40,805.11, the S&P 500

gained 6.44 points, or 0.12%, to 5,603.56 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 23.35 points, or 0.13%, to 17,840.29.

Wall Street's main indexes closed marginally lower on

Tuesday, breaking their recent winning streak.

Risk appetite had returned to global equities last week

following sharp declines earlier this month, boosted by the

likelihood of rate cuts from the U.S. central bank in September,

with all three major U.S. benchmarks now at levels seen before

the sell-off.

Among others, TJX Cos ( TJX ) rose about 6% after the

off-price retailer lifted its annual profit forecast, while

Macy's slipped 11.3% after lowering its annual net sales

forecast.

U.S.-listed shares of Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com ( JD )

dropped 4.8% after Reuters reported that

Walmart ( WMT ), the company's biggest shareholder, has sold its

entire stake in the firm.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.67-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE, and by a 1.65-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 57 new highs and 44 new

lows.