* Indexes up: Dow 0.48%, S&P 500 0.32%, Nasdaq 0.19%

* Sysco ( SYY ) falls after $29 bln Jetro Restaurant Depot buyout

deal

* Banks, asset managers gain after labor department's

401(K) guidelines

* Comments from Fed's Jerome Powell, John Williams

awaited

(Updates on market open)

By Purvi Agarwal and Twesha Dikshit

March 30 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes gained

in choppy trading on Monday after logging sharp declines in the

previous session, as investors took heart from President Donald

Trump's comments on U.S.-Iran talks even as the Middle East

conflict widened.

Trump said the U.S. was in serious discussions with a "more

reasonable regime" to end the war, but repeated his warning to

open the Strait of Hormuz or risk U.S attacks on Iranian oil

wells and power plants.

The comments came after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militia

entered the war over the weekend, escalating the conflict.

The S&P 500 Energy Index added 1.5% with Exxon Mobil ( XOM )

and Chevron ( CVX ) up 3% and 1.5%, respectively.

"The S&P 500 is still down less than 10% (since the war

began). In many ways, investors have been affected less by the

implications of the Strait of Hormuz being closed than I would

have thought," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at

CFRA Research.

"Today's action is probably more of a technical bounce

because many sectors and sub-industries are in oversold

condition."

The financial index gained 0.8% after the U.S.

Department of Labor issued long-awaited guidelines intended to

clarify how trustees can add alternative assets ranging from

private equity to cryptocurrencies to 401(k) retirement plans.

Shares of asset managers climbed with Blackstone up

1.7%, KKR up 1.4% and Apollo Global Management ( APO )

gaining 1%.

Nine out of the S&P 500's 11 major industry sectors were in

the green.

Since the war began, the blue-chip Dow, the Nasdaq and the

small-cap Russell 2000 have all confirmed correction

territory.

Wall Street brokerage Morgan Stanley downgraded global

equities to "equal weight" from "overweight", but said fund

flows to U.S. equities and bonds had overtaken the rest of the

world since the conflict began, indicating it might re-emerge as

a safe haven for investors.

At 09:47 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 216.19 points, or 0.48%, to 45,382.83, the S&P 500

gained 20.46 points, or 0.32%, to 6,389.31 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 39.52 points, or 0.19%, to 20,987.88.

Investors will closely monitor comments from Fed Chair

Jerome Powell and New York Fed President John Williams,

scheduled to speak later in the day.

A slew of labor market data, including the nonfarm payrolls

figures for March, is scheduled for release this week and

expected to provide more insight into the health of the economy.

The spike in oil prices resulting from the Iran conflict has

revived inflation fears, prompting money market participants to

price out any easing from the Federal Reserve this year,

compared with two cuts expected before the war began, per the

CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

Among other movers, Sysco's ( SYY ) shares dropped 12% after

the food distributor said it would buy catering supplier Jetro

Restaurant Depot in a $29 billion deal, including debt.

Shares of aluminum producers climbed as prices of the metal

were trading at around four-year peaks. Alcoa ( AA ) and Century

Aluminum ( CENX ) gained 12% and 13.6%, respectively.

U.S. markets will be closed on Friday for the Good Friday

holiday.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.69-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.49-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows while

the Nasdaq Composite recorded 17 new highs and 121 new lows.