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Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments due at 12:30 p.m. ET

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Hewlett Packard ( HPE ) slumps after dour Q2 forecasts

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Nonfarm payrolls increase by 151,000 in February

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Indexes up: Dow 0.29%, S&P 500 0.46%, Nasdaq 0.66%

(Updates after market opens)

By Johann M Cherian and Sukriti Gupta

March 7 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes ticked up

in choppy trading, boosted by a jump in energy stocks, while

investors assessed a key jobs report and awaited comments from

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for clues on the health of

the U.S. economy.

At 09:51 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 124.23 points, or 0.29%, to 42,703.31, the S&P 500

gained 24.38 points, or 0.46%, to 5,764.57 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 120.10 points, or 0.66%, to 18,186.29.

Energy led sectoral gains on the S&P 500 with a 1.8%

rise, tracking a 2% increase in oil prices.

Nasdaq component Broadcom ( AVGO ) rose 7% after the

chipmaker assuaged investor worries about artificial

intelligence infrastructure demand with a strong second-quarter

forecast. Technology stocks added 1.3%, while the

broader chip index added 1.9%.

On the other hand, rate-sensitive banks dipped

0.5%, with Citigroup ( C/PN ) and JP Morgan Chase down 1%

each.

A Labor Department report showed job growth picked up in

February from the previous month. However, the growth missed

economists' expectations, adding to worries about the economy's

resilience.

"This is not an overly weak report and it's not overly

strong," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan

Capital Securities.

"It is within the average job creations over the past

several months and that suggests that the economy is still

somewhat resilient, although challenges persist."

Following the data, traders added to expectations that the

central bank will lower borrowing costs for the first time in

June, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell at 12:30 p.m. ET will

now be in focus to get more clarity on the central bank's

policy. His colleagues, including John Williams, Michelle Bowman

and Adriana Kugler, are also slated to speak later in the day.

Equities witnessed their most volatile week this year, with

Wall Street's fear gauge trading near levels not seen

since mid-December, as traders tried to assess President Donald

Trump's fluctuating trade policy.

In the previous session, the Nasdaq confirmed a 10% drop

from its December all-time high, while the benchmark S&P 500

appeared to have reversed most of its gains since Trump's

election victory.

The indexes, along with the blue-chip Dow are on

track for their biggest weekly drop since September. Equity

funds witnessed the largest weekly outflow in four weeks in the

week ended on March 5.

Trump on Thursday offered a four-week reprieve on tariffs he

imposed on imports from Canada and Mexico that fall under a

free-trade pact, but the U.S. is still in a trade war with

China. Additionally, reciprocal trade barriers and other duties

are expected to take effect in the following weeks.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( HPE ) slumped 15%, after saying

its annual profit forecast would be hit by U.S. tariffs.

Costco fell 5.9% after the retailer missed Street

estimates on quarterly earnings as merchandise costs increased.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.98-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.57-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 5 new 52-week highs and seven new lows,

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded nine new highs and 60 new

lows.