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Paramount Global ( PARAA ) up as bidders await word from special

committee

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Spirit Airlines ( SAVE ) falls after weak Q2 revenue forecast

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Indexes up: Dow 0.38%, S&P 0.52%, Nasdaq 0.53%

(Updated at 09:41 a.m. ET/ 1341 GMT)

By Sruthi Shankar and Shristi Achar A

May 6 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main stock indexes

gained on Monday as expectations of interest rate cuts this year

by the Federal Reserve grew stronger following a soft payrolls

data last week.

The benchmark S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow

closed at three-week highs on Friday after data showed U.S. job

growth slowed more than expected in April, taking pressure off

the U.S. central bank to keep rates higher for longer.

Traders are currently pricing in rate cuts worth 48 basis

points from the Fed by the end of 2024, with the first cut

expected in September or November, according to LSEG's rate

probability app. In recent weeks, traders had priced in just one

cut due to signs of sticky inflation.

"It's been this tug of war between what you're seeing play

out in the rates market and the repricing of inflation and Fed

policy versus what you're seeing on the earnings front," said

Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment

Managers Solutions.

"In our opinion, it's been a pretty even battle so far."

U.S. stock indexes appear to have stabilized after a rocky

April, as a much better-than-expected first-quarter earnings

season and hopes of U.S. monetary policy easing draw buyers back

into the market.

The Fed left interest rates unchanged last week and signaled

it was leaning toward eventual reductions in borrowing costs,

but repeated that it wants to gain "greater confidence" that

inflation will continue to fall before cutting rates.

Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin and his New York

counterpart John Williams are scheduled to speak later in the

day, kicking off speeches from a host of U.S. central bank

policymakers this week.

Key data releases this week include weekly jobless claims

and U.S. consumer sentiment data for May.

With the earnings season in full swing, investors will also

keep an eye on quarterly numbers from major firms including Walt

Disney ( DIS ), Uber ( UBER ) and Arm Holdings this

week.

Of the 397 firms in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings

through Friday, 76.8% beat analysts' profit estimates, compared

with the long-term average of 66.7%, as per LSEG data.

At 09:41 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 146.36 points, or 0.38%, to 38,822.38, the S&P 500

gained 26.70 points, or 0.52%, to 5,154.49 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 85.00 points, or 0.53%, to 16,241.33.

Nine of 11 S&P 500 sectors traded in the green, with energy

leading gains, up 1.2%, on higher crude prices.

Paramount Global ( PARAA ) added 4.2% after the media company

ended its exclusive negotiations with Skydance Media without a

deal, allowing the special committee to entertain other offers

from rival bidders.

Perficient jumped 52.8% after Swedish private

equity firm EQT AB said it would take the U.S.-based

digital consultancy firm private in an all-cash deal valued at

about $3 billion.

Spirit Airlines ( SAVE ) shed 8.7% after the U.S. carrier

forecast second-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates,

driven by sluggish improvement in domestic demand and grounding

of dozens of its aircraft.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 5.14-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 2.82-to-1 ratio on Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 21 new 52-week highs and no new lows,

while the Nasdaq recorded 74 new highs and 14 new lows.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru;

Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Shinjini Ganguli)