* Indexes up: Dow 0.09%, S&P 500 0.22%, Nasdaq 0.26%

* February PCE at 2.8% on annual basis, meets estimates

* Constellation Brands ( STZ ) jumps after smaller drop in Q4

sales

(Updates with late morning trade)

By Purvi Agarwal and Avinash P

April 9 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes inched

higher in choppy trading on Thursday as broader gains across

sectors countered declines in tech stocks, while investors

assessed the fragility of a two-week Middle East ceasefire.

Israel bombed more targets in Lebanon, putting the ceasefire

into jeopardy as Iran warned there would be no deal unless the

bombing of Lebanon ceases, ahead of the war's first peace talks

planned later in the week.

Few signs of traffic moving through the Strait of Hormuz

heightened uncertainty around energy shipments, leading to a

rebound in oil prices, though they remained below $100 a barrel.

The S&P 500 energy sector added 0.7% and utilities

stocks were the biggest percentage gainers, up 1.8%.

"It's confusion over the ceasefire, the lack of clarity on

what is involved and the fact that the ceasefire really hasn't

happened yet... the market is saying maybe it's not as clear as

we initially thought," said Dustin Thackeray, partner and head

of portfolio management at Crewe Advisors.

At 11:34 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 44.47 points, or 0.09%, to 47,953.32, the S&P 500

gained 14.67 points, or 0.22%, to 6,797.48 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 59.52 points, or 0.26%, to 22,694.91.

Consumer discretionary stocks supported the S&P 500, led by

a 3.7% gain in Amazon.com ( AMZN ) after its CEO said AI

services at its cloud-computing unit were generating annualized

revenue of over $15 billion.

That offset declines on the S&P 500 technology sector

, with Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Apple ( AAPL ) falling

1.4% and 0.5%, respectively. Software stocks came under pressure

with the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF down 3.9%.

Gains in Caterpillar ( CAT ) and Honeywell ( HON ) countered

declines in Salesforce ( CRM ) and IBM ( IBM ), buoying the Dow.

"The Iran conflict happened and software stocks didn't sell

off as much as others... maybe there's just some profit-taking

and repositioning in those names," said Thackeray.

The moves come a day after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq marked

their biggest one-day jumps in over a week, and the Dow in a

year.

Meanwhile, data showed U.S. inflation increased as expected

in February and likely rose further in March amid the Iran war,

while economic growth slowed more than previously estimated in

the fourth quarter.

Friday's consumer prices index number for March will grab

the spotlight as investors wait to see the economic impact of

elevated oil prices stemming from the conflict.

Money market participants are expecting only about 30%

chances of a 25 basis-point interest rate cut by end-2026,

compared with a 56% chance a day ago, per LSEG-compiled data.

They expected two cuts this year before the war broke out,

while bets for a rate hike in December had also risen during the

conflict.

Among movers, Constellation Brands ( STZ ) jumped 6.4% after

the Corona beer maker posted a smaller-than-expected drop in

fourth-quarter sales.

Carlyle dipped 1.8% after its flagship

private-credit interval fund was hit by a wave of redemptions,

in the latest sign of issues in the credit space.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.15-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.14-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 39 new 52-week highs and 19 new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 85 new highs and 113 new

lows.

(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal, Avinash P and Sruthi Shankar in

Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Devika Syamnath)