* Indexes up: Dow 0.54%, S&P 500 0.26%, Nasdaq 0.41%

* Software stocks come under pressure

* Oracle drops on forecasting spending plans above estimates

* May producer prices increase more than expected

(Updates with early afternoon trading)

By Joel Jose and Twesha Dikshit

June 11 (Reuters) - Wall Street's major indexes inched

higher in choppy trading on Thursday, as technology stocks

steadied after a recent selloff, while investors kept a close

watch on developments around the Middle East conflict.

Chipmakers bounced back after Wednesday's selloff sent major

Wall Street indexes down more than 1% and technology stocks into

correction territory, a 10% drop from their record close.

Intel ( INTC ) soared 6%, while Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Micron

Technology ( MU ) were up 0.5% and 3.2%, respectively. The S&P

500 technology index rose 0.7%, while the Philadelphia

SE Semiconductor index advanced 3.5%.

Stocks steadied even as U.S. President Donald Trump warned

Washington would hit Iran "very hard tonight" and soon take

control of the Middle Eastern country's oil and gas

infrastructure and markets. Oil prices were nearly flat.

"That's (Trump's warning) a pretty worrisome thought for the

market but what we're seeing here is a market that may have been

grossly oversold over the past few days. And so that's why we're

seeing some sort of a bump," said Phil Blancato, chief market

strategist at Osaic Wealth.

At 11:53 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 268.31 points, or 0.54%, to 50,187.09, the S&P 500

gained 18.57 points, or 0.26%, to 7,285.56 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 103.26 points, or 0.41%, to 25,272.76.

The S&P 500 has dropped about 4% since hitting a record

closing high in early June as investors grapple with concerns

about stretched tech valuations and tighter monetary policy,

with the Middle East conflict stoking inflationary pressures.

Data showed U.S. producer prices increased more than

expected in May, leading to the largest annual gain in over

three years.

Separately, the number of Americans filing claims for

unemployment benefits increased marginally last week.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest

rates steady at its policy meeting next week, with investors

pricing in at least one 25 basis point rate hike by the end of

the year.

"Inflation is a bigger concern for markets right now than

growth. As a result, any near-term correction is more likely to

be driven by inflationary pressures than by a deterioration in

economic activity," said Kevin Gordon, head of macro research

and strategy at the Schwab Center for Financial Research.

The highly anticipated Friday market debut of Elon Musk's

SpaceX, set to be valued at $1.75 trillion, could also test the

rally this year that has repeatedly lifted stocks to record

levels.

Eight of 11 major S&P 500 sectors were in the green, with

industrial shares leading gains.

Communication services dropped 1.8%, as Alphabet

and Meta declined almost 2% each.

Oracle shares plunged 12% after the company

projected capital spending plans for fiscal 2027 above Wall

Street estimates.

AppLovin ( APP ) and Atlassian ( TEAM ) fell about 1% and 4%

respectively, while Servicenow, Salesforce ( CRM ) and

Adobe were down between 3.2% and 5%.

Among other movers, Navan jumped 14% after the

corporate travel booking agency raised its full-year forecasts

for revenue and operating income on Wednesday.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.91-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.58-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 18 new 52-week highs and 14 new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 107 new highs and 121 new

lows.

(Reporting by Joel Jose and Twesha Dikshit in Bengaluru;

Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Devika Syamnath)