(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

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Indexes up: Dow 0.47%, S&P 500 0.38%, Nasdaq 0.29%

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Salesforce ( CRM ) drops after downbeat revenue forecast

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American Eagle Outfitters ( AEO ) surges on strong sales forecast

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Private payrolls increase less than expected in August

(Updates with afternoon levels)

By Purvi Agarwal and Ragini Mathur

Sept 4 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes rose on

Thursday after the latest labor market data kept intact

expectations of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve,

while declines in Salesforce ( CRM ) limited gains.

U.S. private payrolls

increased

less than anticipated in August, while weekly jobless

claims came

in higher than expected

, in the latest data pointing to easing labor market

conditions.

Investors are still pricing in a 95% probability of a 25

basis point cut, CME's FedWatch Tool showed. The move was

largely expected after July's bleak payrolls figures, Fed Chair

Jerome Powell's dovish comments and a weak job openings report

for July.

The focus now shifts to Friday's highly anticipated

nonfarm payrolls data.

"I'm hoping there would be a Goldilocks number where

we're not creating jobs like we were, but we're also not falling

off the cliff," said Ken Mahoney, president of Mahoney Asset

Management.

"The Fed figured out that if they had to fix something

in their dual mandate, the best thing for the overall economy is

making sure companies are not laying off more people."

Separately, the Institute for Supply Management's index

showed U.S. services sector activity

picked up

in August.

Meanwhile, Salesforce ( CRM ) fell 5.5% after it

forecast third-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates on

Wednesday, signaling lagging monetization for its AI agent

platform.

While AI-linked companies have driven U.S. stock indexes

to record highs this year, their momentum slowed last month on

concerns over valuations and results from bellwether Nvidia ( NVDA )

which fell short of heightened expectations.

On Thursday, Amazon.com ( AMZN ) gained 3.3%, while Meta

Platforms ( META ) jumped 1.8%, boosting the consumer

discretionary and communication services sectors

.

At 12:02 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 215.80 points, or 0.47%, to 45,486.03, the S&P 500

gained 24.87 points, or 0.38%, to 6,473.01 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 62.37 points, or 0.29%, to 21,560.10.

Investors watched President Donald Trump's nominee, Stephen

Miran's, Senate confirmation hearing for an open Fed board seat,

where he assured he was not asked to commit to rate cuts if

confirmed.

Wall Street had a dour start to September, pressured by

rising Treasury yields. The month has been historically bad,

with the S&P 500 losing 1.5% on average since 2000, according to

LSEG data.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed higher on Wednesday,

boosted by Google-parent Alphabet hitting a record

high after a Washington judge ruled the company would not have

to sell its Chrome browser. The stock fell 1.2% on Thursday.

Market participants will also parse Fed official Austan

Goolsbee's comments later in the day. Central bank officials had

said on Wednesday that labor market worries continued to animate

their belief that rate cuts still lay ahead.

American Eagle Outfitters ( AEO ) soared 32% and was set for

its biggest one-day gain after the apparel company forecast

third-quarter comparable sales above estimates on Wednesday.

Figma ( FIG ) fell 16% after the design software firm's

first quarterly results as a public company failed to impress

investors.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.01-to-1 ratio

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

The S&P 500 posted 12 new 52-week highs and six new

lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 54 new highs and 114

new lows.