* Indexes up: Dow 0.42%, S&P 500 0.43%, Nasdaq 0.40%

* US consumer spending, core PCE inflation firmer in

January

* Meta down 1.8%; report says AI model 'Avocado' rollout

pushed to May or later

* Adobe falls 6.5% after CEO Shantanu Narayen to leave

(Updates after market open, prices throughout)

By Johann M Cherian and Utkarsh Hathi

March 13 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main stock indexes

rose on Friday, rebounding from sharp losses in the previous

session, as investors assessed a set of economic data releases

to gauge the Federal Reserve's interest rate outlook, while the

Middle East conflict widens.

A Commerce Department report showed economic growth slowed more

sharply than initially thought in the fourth quarter following

downward revisions to consumer spending and business investment,

while a separate report showed consumer spending increased

slightly more than expected in January.

The data did little to shift expectations for the Fed's policy

path as traders priced in one 25-basis-point interest rate cut

later this year, according to LSEG-compiled data, compared with

two cuts expected before the war began on February 28.

"Inflation remains elevated, sticky and with the

possibility of energy prices eventually moving into the

pipeline, the Fed is likely to stay on hold for a longer period

of time," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist, Spartan

Capital Securities.

The Fed will potentially leave interest rates unchanged when

it meets next week and spiking energy costs could complicate the

central bank's policy plans as other reports point to price

pressures and a softening job market.

Meanwhile, data showed the University of Michigan's preliminary

estimate on consumer sentiment edged lower in March to 55.5 from

56.6 in late February.

Crude prices hovered near $100 a barrel as hostilities in the

Middle East showed few signs of easing despite the Trump

administration's assurances of a swift resolution.

Efforts such as the International Energy Agency's record

emergency oil releases, and the U.S. 30-day license for

countries to buy Russian oil and petroleum products stranded at

sea have so far failed to bring down the surge in costs.

At 10:10 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 197.09 points, or 0.42%, to 46,874.94, the S&P 500

gained 28.78 points, or 0.43%, to 6,701.40 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 89.51 points, or 0.40%, to 22,401.49.

Wall Street's fear gauge, the CBOE volatility index,

wavered and was last down 1.8 points at 25.37, while futures

tied to the rate-sensitive Russell 2000 index were up

0.6%.

All of the 11 S&P 500 sectors edged higher, with utilities

leading with a 1.4% rise.

The S&P 500 and the financials-heavy Dow were set for their

third week in the red with the latter hit the hardest, putting

it on track for its biggest monthly losses since December 2024.

Credit quality worries deepened this week after Morgan Stanley ( MS )

halted redemptions at one of its private credit funds,

following similar moves by BlackRock ( BLK ) and Blue Owl

in recent weeks.

JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) also restricted lending to private credit

players, while Blackstone faced a surge in redemptions.

Blue Owl and BlackRock ( BLK ) edged up 1.6% each following sharp

losses in the previous session.

Travel stocks, hit the most by the war and higher energy

costs, were mixed.

Alaska Airlines was flat and American Airlines ( AAL )

slipped 0.6%, while Carnival and Norwegian

Cruise rose 2.7% and 1.5%, respectively.

Design software maker Adobe fell 6.5% as longtime CEO

Shantanu Narayen will leave his role once a successor is

appointed, renewing worries around its strategy as it grapples

with AI disruption.

Crypto-firm Strategy climbed 4.7% as bitcoin

prices rose more than 4%.

Megacap Meta slipped 1.8% as a report said it postponed

the release of its artificial intelligence model "Avocado" to at

least May, from this month.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.17-to-1 ratio on

the NYSE and by a 1.81-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted nine new 52-week highs and four new

lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 25 new highs and 79 new

lows.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian, Utkarsh Hathi in Bengaluru,

Stephen Culp in New York; Editing by Maju Samuel and Devika

Syamnath)