US STOCKS-Wall Street climbs with defensive sectors out front

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* Private payrolls increase by 428,000 in August
* Nvidia climbs as analysts cheer new gaming chip
* Indexes up: Dow 1.02%, S&P 1.10%, Nasdaq 0.6%

(Updates to late afternoon, adds commentary, NEW YORK dateline,
changes byline)
By Sinéad Carew
Sept 2 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 rose on Wednesday for the
ninth time in the past 10 sessions although defensive sectors
took their turn to lead the gains after data showed U.S. private
payrolls expanded last month, but at a much slower pace than
expected.
The indexes pared gains briefly before regaining ground in
the late afternoon after the Federal Reserve's "Beige Book"
report showed a modest increase in activity for U.S. businesses
and an increase in employment through late August, while
economic growth remained sluggish in parts of the country.
The blue-chip Dow edged up toward its Feb. 12 record high
but was still 2% below the milestone. The tech-heavy Nasdaq, now
more than 20% above its pre-crisis high, rose at a slower pace
on Wednesday.
It was hurt by losses in shares such as Apple Inc AAPL.O ,
Tesla Inc TSLA.O and Zoom Video Communications Inc ZM.O .
"A handful of technology stocks have been a great place to
be over the last several months, but at some point you need to
kind of be on the lookout for other opportunities outside of
those concentrated names," said Adam Phillips, director of
portfolio strategy at EP Wealth Advisors in Torrance,
California.
The defensive utilities .SPLRCU , consumer staples
.SPLRCS and real estate .SPRLCR , which have trailed the
broader market this year, posted some of the biggest percentage
gains among major S&P sectors on Wednesday.
The Russell 1000 value index .RLV was up 1.2%, while the
Russell 1000 growth index .RLG rose 0.7%.
"It's positive momentum all around. I don't think you'll get
a sustained rotation," said Janet Walker, senior portfolio
manager at Abbot Downing in San Francisco, who also cited the
latest positive reports on COVID-19 treatments and vaccines.
At 2:20 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 290.91 points, or 1.02%, at 28,936.57, the S&P 500 .SPX
gained 38.95 points, or 1.10%, to 3,565.6 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC added 71.09 points, or 0.6%, to 12,010.76.
U.S. private payrolls increased last month from July,
according to the ADP report, but fell short of economists'
forecast. Investor focus will now be on the government's
comprehensive employment report which is slated for
Friday. Abbot Downing's Walker expects Friday's government payroll
numbers to also reflect a stalling from July to August. As a
result she says it will be important for U.S. lawmakers to reach
an agreement for a new fiscal coronavirus relief bill.
Weakness in the jobs report "could become a bigger risk if
there's a delay in stimulus," she said. "For us to continue to
recover we're going to need to see additional stimulus."
Nvidia Corp NVDA.O , the best-performing S&P 500
constituent this year, was also one of the benchmark's biggest
boosts on Wednesday, gaining 3.7% after several brokerages hiked
their price targets on its shares after its announcement of
powerful gaming chips in collaboration with Micron Technology
Inc MU.O and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 005930.KS .
Some market experts have warned that at these elevated
levels, Wall Street's indexes are ripe for a pullback,
especially in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 3 election.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.35-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.09-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 75 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 132 new highs and 43 new lows.