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ADP survey: US adds 143,000 private jobs in September

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Tesla drops on downbeat Q3 vehicle deliveries

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Nike ( NKE ) falls after withdrawing annual revenue forecast

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Humana tanks as fewer members in Medicare Advantage plans

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Indexes up: Dow 0.09%, S&P 500 0.14%, Nasdaq 0.32%

(Updated at 12:10 a.m. ET/1610 GMT)

By Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal

Oct 2 (Reuters) -

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq edged higher on Wednesday but

were near two-week lows as investors watched for an escalation

in geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, while a survey

soothed concerns about a rapid cooldown in the U.S. labor

market.

Markets remained cautious as Israel and the U.S. vowed

to strike back after Iran attacked Israel on Tuesday, following

which the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq logged their biggest one-day

falls in nearly a month.

At 12:10 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 37.78 points, or 0.09%, to 42,194.75, the S&P 500

gained 7.82 points, or 0.14%, to 5,716.57 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 57.33 points, or 0.32%, to 17,967.69.

Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were higher, with Energy

stocks touching a more than one-month high. They were

last up 0.9%.

Oil prices climbed more than 3% as traders priced in

possible supply disruptions from the Middle East. Chevron ( CVX )

and Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) added 1% and 0.5%, respectively.

Defense stocks such as Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) and RTX

were flat after the broader S&P 500 aerospace and

defense index hit a record high on Tuesday.

"Investors are certainly cautious amid the increasing

global tensions. There's limited spillover at this point, but it

certainly remains something that investors are closely

watching," said Timothy Chubb, chief investment officer at

Girard.

Most semiconductor stocks traded higher, with Nvidia ( NVDA )

gaining 1.7%, sparking a 2.3% rise in the Philadelphia

SE Semiconductor index. The broader infotech sector

gained 0.8%.

Fueling optimism, data showed U.S. private payrolls

increased more than expected in September,

further evidence

that labor market conditions were not deteriorating.

"The data coming in a bit above consensus certainly

falls into the Goldilocks narrative, but not strong enough to

necessarily derail the Fed's easing cycle," Chubb said.

Odds of a quarter-percentage-point rate reduction at the

Fed's November meeting are at 65.7%, up from 42.6% a week ago,

according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

Comments from Fed policymakers including Beth Hammack

and Alberto Musalem are scheduled through the day, while the

focus will stay on Friday's non-farm payrolls data for

September.

Markets ended September higher after the U.S. Federal

Reserve kicked off its monetary-policy-easing cycle with an

unusual 50-basis-point rate cut to shore up the jobs market.

A dockworkers' strike on the East and Gulf coasts, costing

the economy roughly $5 billion per day according to JPMorgan

analyst estimates, entered its second day.

Tesla lost 3.3% after reporting third-quarter

vehicle deliveries below estimates.

Nike ( NKE ) slid 5.8% after withdrawing its annual revenue

forecast just as a new CEO is set to take charge.

Both stocks weighed on the Consumer Discretionary sector

, which was at the bottom with a 0.5% loss.

Humana tanked 17.7% after it said it expects the

total number of members enrolled in its top-rated Medicare

Advantage plans for those aged 65 and above to decrease for

2025.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.07-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE, while advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a

1.11-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 24 new 52-week highs and one new low,

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 67 new highs and 89 new

lows.