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Indexes up: Dow 0.14%, S&P 500 0.29%, Nasdaq 0.24%

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Lilly becomes first drugmaker to join trillion-dollar club

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Intuit gains after Q2 revenue growth tops estimates

(Updates with morning prices)

By Shashwat Chauhan and Pranav Kashyap

Nov 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes edged up

on Friday as traders boosted bets on an interest rate cut by the

Federal Reserve next month following remarks from policymakers,

while technology shares steadied after a bruising selloff in the

previous session.

New York Fed President John Williams, a voting member of the

Federal Open Market Committee, said the central bank can still

cut rates "in the near term" without putting its inflation goal

at risk.

Traders now see a more than 70% chance that the Fed will cut

its main lending rate by 25 basis points in December, up from a

near 37% chance seen earlier in the day, according to the CME

FedWatch Tool.

Boston Fed President Susan Collins, however, said on CNBC

policy was "in the right place", indicating skepticism about the

need for another rate cut. Her stance contrasts with dovish

signals from some peers, a divergence that could stoke market

volatility ahead of the December meeting.

"There's still expectations for the rate-cutting cycle to

continue, whether it's in December or early next year," said

John Campbell, head of systematic core equity team at Allspring

Global Investments.

"There could be some volatility around December's cut, but

the rate-cutting cycle will probably still continue into next

year."

Global brokerages remained divided over the likelihood of a

December rate cut after Thursday's release of the long-delayed

September jobs report, which marks the last employment reading

before the Fed's verdict next month.

At 09:49 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 68.12 points, or 0.14%, to 45,817.68. The S&P 500

gained 19.13 points, or 0.29%, to 6,557.68, while the Nasdaq

Composite advanced 53.76 points, or 0.24%, to 22,131.10.

Most megacap and growth stocks gained, with Alphabet

leading the pack with a 4% rise.

Eli Lilly ( LLY ) rose 1.3%, becoming the first drugmaker to

touch a $1 trillion market capitalization.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) was down 0.4% after a volatile session on

Thursday when the shares swung as much as 5% higher before

closing 3.2% down following its third-quarter results.

"Valuations have gotten stretched and some investors have

been keeping their eye on the exit. Expectations have gotten

very high for the AI theme," Campbell said.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were on track for their worst

weekly fall since March. Consumer discretionary and

information technology sectors were also set for steep

declines this week.

The Nasdaq has retreated sharply from its October

peak and is poised for a sharp drop in November amid skepticism

over tech monetization prospects, circular spending within the

sector and rising debt issuance.

Markets also digested the November business report, with

factory activity slowing to a four-month low on higher prices

because of tariffs.

Intuit gained 4.1% after the financial management

tools company forecast second-quarter revenue growth above

market expectations.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.82-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.61-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

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

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded five new highs and 191 new

lows.