*

Indexes up: Dow 1.45%, S&P 500 1.62%, Nasdaq 1.77%

*

U.S. economy adds 177,00 jobs

*

Apple ( AAPL ) slips as tariff costs weigh

(Updates to 2:30 PM ET)

By Chibuike Oguh and Sruthi Shankar

NEW YORK, May 2 (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks advanced

on Friday, on track for the second straight week of gains,

helped by strong economic data and potential easing of trade

tensions between the U.S. and China.

The U.S. economy added 177,000 jobs in April, exceeding

expectations, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%.

The data helped to assuage concerns of a economic slowdown

following a Commerce Department report, showing a contraction in

U.S. gross domestic product for the first time in three years,

weighed down by a tariff-induced flood of imports.

"The stock market is cheering this morning's payroll report

but I have to point out that job growth did slow on the month

and I haven't seen too many comments about that," said Talley

Leger, chief market strategist at The Wealth Consulting Group.

"I was a bit surprised because I was expecting a sharper

slowdown given that non-farm payroll survey happened the week

after the tariffs were announced. So I think the market is

taking this in a positive light."

Beijing said on Friday it was "evaluating" an offer from

Washington to hold talks over President Donald Trump's 145%

tariffs, which he had imposed on Chinese imports.

The tit-for-tat tariffs between the world's two largest

economies have kept investors on edge, with both sides unwilling

to be seen backing down in a trade war that has roiled global

markets.

Still, Trump's reversal of some tariffs has helped U.S.

stock indexes recover from recent losses. The tech-heavy Nasdaq

was trading at levels last seen before April 2, dubbed

"Liberation Day", when the president unveiled massive global

tariffs.

The S&P 500 was headed for its ninth consecutive session of

gains, while the Dow was also on track for a nine-day winning

streak, its first since December 2023 and the Nasdaq is set for

a second straight day of gains. For the week, all three indexes

were set to make a 3% gain for the week.

At 2:19 p.m, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 593.22 points, or 1.45%, to 41,344.78, the S&P 500

gained 90.52 points, or 1.62%, to 5,694.81 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 313.10 points, or 1.77%, to 18,024.51.

"I do think what today is saying is that the economy is a

lot stronger than people thought and a lot more resilient in the

face of all of these tariffs and fears about tariffs," said

Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital in New York.

Apple ( AAPL ) fell nearly 4% after the iPhone maker trimmed

its share buyback program by $10 billion and CEO Tim Cook told

analysts that tariffs could add about $900 million in costs this

quarter.

Other so-called Magnificent Seven stocks, including Amazon ( AMZN )

, Meta Platform, and Nvidia ( NVDA ), were

trading up between 0.3% and 5.2%.

Oil giant Chevron ( CVX ) rose 1.6%, while Exxon Mobil ( XOM )

added 0.5% after both reported quarterly results.

Block slumped 21% after cutting its profit forecast

for 2025 and missing estimates for quarterly earnings.

Videogame maker Take-Two Interactive fell 4.6%

after it delayed the release of "Grand Theft Auto VI" to May

2026.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 4.16-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 3,332 stocks rose and 1,030 fell as

advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.23-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 12 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 48 new highs and 33 new

lows.