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US weekly jobless claims slip; Q2 GDP unrevised

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Accenture ( ACN ) gains after upbeat annual revenue forecast

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Miners jump after report of Chinese stimulus

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Indexes up: Dow 0.52%, S&P 500 0.65%, Nasdaq 1.12%

By Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal

Sept 26 (Reuters) -

Wall Street's main indexes rose on Thursday, with the S&P

500 hitting a record high, as Micron's upbeat forecast revived

the frenzy around artificial intelligence, and a

softer-than-expected jobless claims report soothed worries about

the labor market.

Micron Technology ( MU ) jumped 17.3% after the memory chip

maker forecast higher-than-expected first-quarter revenue,

underscoring that demand for memory chips used in AI computing

was robust.

The optimism lifted other chip stocks, with Nvidia ( NVDA )

rising 2.8%, Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) advancing 3.6% and

Broadcom ( AVGO ) adding 2.2%. The broader Philadelphia SE

Semiconductor index jumped 3.7% to levels seen more than

two months ago.

Investors also scrutinized a

Labor Department report

that showed jobless claims came in at 218,000 for the week

ended Sept. 21, below estimates of 225,000.

"Better employment numbers mean that the Fed will only

cut by 25 bps at the next meeting ... on the one hand we won't

get a bigger rate cut, but on the other hand, it indicates the

economy is strong, which is good news," said Melissa Brown,

managing director of investment decision research at SimCorp.

Separately, the

final reading of gross domestic product

confirmed that the economy grew 3% in the second quarter.

At 9:46 a.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 219.41 points, or 0.52%, to 42,134.16, the S&P 500

gained 37.03 points, or 0.65%, to 5,759.29 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 201.80 points, or 1.12%, to 18,284.01.

Six of the 11 S&P 500 sectors rose, with technology

rising 1.3%. Energy stocks slipped 1.4%,

tracking crude prices that slid on expectations of greater

supply by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The Russell 2000 index tracking small caps also added

1.1%.

The benchmark S&P 500 and blue-chip Dow

have hit multiple record highs since the start of this year and

the tech-laden Nasdaq is about 2% away from its own

milestone. Optimism around AI and expectations of lower interest

rates have led markets to rally this year.

Late on Wednesday, Fed Governor Adriana Kugler said she

"strongly supported" the central bank's decision to kick off

monetary policy easing with a rare half a percentage point cut

last week, as part of an emerging focus on the job market.

Traders now see a 54.6% chance of the Fed delivering a 50

basis point rate cut in November, up from 38.8% a week ago, as

per the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

Among others, Copper miners such as Freeport-McMoRan ( FCX )

rose 6.9%, while lithium miners such as Albemarle climbed 6%

and Arcadium added 4.4% after China pledged to

deploy "necessary fiscal spending". The broader materials index

rose 1.36%.

U.S.-listed Chinese firms such as Li Auto and PDD

Holdings advanced 11%, while Alibaba added

7.5%.

Southwest Airlines ( LUV ) climbed 9.7% after the carrier

raised its third-quarter revenue forecast, while Accenture ( ACN )

gained 7% after the IT services provider forecast annual

revenue above estimates.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.59-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 3.67-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 37 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while

the Nasdaq Composite recorded 66 new highs and 20 new lows.