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Jobless claims at one-month low; retail sales surge in

July

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Cisco ( CSCO ) gains after forecasting upbeat Q1 revenue, cutting

7% jobs

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Nike ( NKE ) rises as Ackman's Pershing Square reveals new stakes

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Walmart ( WMT ) advances after raising FY profit forecast

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Indexes up: Dow 1.15%, S&P 500 1.36%, Nasdaq 2.0%

(Updated at 11:38 a.m. ET/1538 GMT)

By Shubham Batra and Shashwat Chauhan

Aug 15 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes jumped on

Thursday, with the Nasdaq rising 2% after U.S. retail sales data

for July indicated resilient consumer spending, allaying fears

of an imminent recession in the world's largest economy.

Tesla was the top gainer among megacap and growth

stocks, leading the pack with a 6.1% advance.

Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were trading higher,

with Consumer Discretionary and Technology

rising 3% and 2.1%, respectively.

Retail sales increased 1.0% last month after a downwardly

revised 0.2% drop in June, easing fears of a sharp economic

slowdown fanned by a jump in the unemployment rate last week.

Meanwhile, retail bellwether Walmart ( WMT ) added 6.4%

after raising its annual profit forecast for the second time

this year as Americans flocked to its stores for inexpensive

essentials.

Rival Target ( TGT ) also jumped 4.3%, while Costco

advanced 1.1%.

A separate reading also showed the number of Americans

filing

new applications for unemployment benefits

fell unexpectedly last week.

"Today's retail sales data and jobless claims offer yet

more evidence that recession risk remains low in the U.S. even

as the economy decelerates from unsustainably strong growth

levels," said Ronald Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard.

"The case for the Fed to ease by 25 basis points is rock

solid, but there is little evidence to suggest a need for a 50

basis point reduction."

The yield of the two-year and 10-year

Treasury notes rose after the data, with traders

increasing bets for a 25-basis-point rate cut by the Federal

Reserve to 76.5%, versus 65% before the data.

Investors have kept a cautious eye on this week's data

releases - the last set of economic indicators before Fed

Chairman Jerome Powell delivers a much-awaited speech at Jackson

Hole next week.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic told the Financial

Times he was open to an interest-rate cut in September, while

St. Louis Fed chief Alberto Musalem said the time for the

central bank to start easing monetary policy might be near.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq extended their

winning streaks on the day to six sessions, hovering near levels

last seen two weeks ago, when global equity markets were hit

hard by concerns of a possible U.S. recession following a dour

jobs report.

At 11:38 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 458.42 points, or 1.15%, to 40,466.81, the S&P 500

gained 74.19 points, or 1.36%, to 5,529.40 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 343.90 points, or 2.0%, to 17,536.51.

Among other movers, Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) rose 7.3% after

it forecast better-than-expected first-quarter revenue and said

it was cutting 7% of its global workforce.

Nike ( NKE ) climbed 3.7% as billionaire investor William

Ackman built new stakes in the sportswear company, while Ulta

Beauty ( ULTA ) jumped 11.2% after Warren Buffett's Berkshire

Hathaway ( BRK/A ) acquired a stake in the cosmetics store chain.

Deere & Co ( DE ) gained 6.6% after the farm, construction

and forestry equipment maker beat analysts' expectations for

third-quarter profit.