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Indexes up: Dow 1.3%, S&P 1.6% and Nasdaq 2.2%

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Chip and AI stocks gain on Nvidia ( NVDA ) results

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September NFP at +119,000 vs +50,000 estimate

(Updates on market open)

By Shashwat Chauhan and Twesha Dikshit

Nov 20 (Reuters) -

Wall Street's main indexes advanced on Thursday, with

technology stocks getting a boost after Nvidia's ( NVDA ) stellar results

quelled some concerns around an AI bubble, while a firm

September jobs report showed signs of a resilient economy.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) gained 3.6% after the world's most valuable

company forecast sales above analysts' estimates for the final

three months of the year and surpassed expectations for

third-quarter revenue.

CEO Jensen Huang shrugged off concerns about AI on a call

with analysts, saying, "We see something very different."

A year-long rally in high-flying technology stocks had begun

to lose some steam as investors became increasingly cautious of

a potential AI bubble.

Concerns about monetization prospects over the technology,

circular spending within the sector and debt issuance have

weighed on markets with the Nasdaq sharply off its

October high and Nvidia ( NVDA ) down nearly 9% from its peak.

Including Thursday's moves, the S&P 500 had fallen

close to 3% so far in November, while the Nasdaq had lost nearly

5%.

At 9:35 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 584.96 points, or 1.27%, the S&P 500 gained 108.33

points, or 1.63% and the Nasdaq Composite up 492.27

points, or 2.18%.

Most megacap and growth stocks advanced, with Alphabet

up 3.2% and Meta gaining 2.1%.

The S&P 500 tech index led gains among the 11 S&P

sub-sectors and the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index

added 2.8%, with Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ), Broadcom ( AVGO )

and other chip-related stocks jumping.

Walmart ( WMT ) jumped 3.5% after the retailer raised its

annual forecast for the second time this year and also set a

December date to change its stock listing to the Nasdaq from the

NYSE.

Meanwhile, data showed U.S. job growth accelerated in

September, but the unemployment rate rose to 4.4%, suggesting

labor market conditions remained sluggish.

"Today's payrolls release is being viewed as a 'good

news is good news' dynamic for equities," said Jeff Schulze,

head of economic and market strategy at ClearBridge Investments.

"(The) data does not show downside risks to labor

materializing while keeping the prospect for further rate cuts

alive."

Traders

continued

to bet that the Fed will skip an interest rate cut in

December, though there was a small pull-back in those bets after

the release of the data.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Wednesday it

would not be publishing its October report, but would combine

nonfarm payrolls for that month with November's report after the

recently ended government shutdown prevented the collection of

data for the household survey.

Also on Thursday, data showed the number of Americans filing

new applications for unemployment benefits fell last week.

At least five Fed officials are set to speak throughout the

day.

Among other stocks, Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ) dropped 0.8%

as the cybersecurity firm said it would buy cloud management and

monitoring company Chronosphere for $3.35 billion.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 6.85-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 5.85-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted six new 52-week highs and three new

lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 37 new highs and 37

new lows.