US STOCKS-Nvidia, Microsoft power gains for S&P 500

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* Private payrolls increase by 428,000 in August
* Nvidia climbs as analysts cheer new gaming chip
* Macy's gains on smaller quarterly loss
* Indexes up: Dow 0.80%, S&P 0.63%, Nasdaq 0.22%

(Updates to open)
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
Sept 2 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 rose on Wednesday for the
ninth time in the past ten sessions on a boost from Nvidia and
Microsoft, as data showed a moderate increase in U.S. private
payrolls last month.
The best performing S&P 500 constituent Nvidia Corp NVDA.O
gained 4.3% after several brokerages hiked their price targets
on its shares, following the announcement of powerful gaming
chips in collaboration with Micron Technology Inc MU.O and
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 005930.KS .
The Philadelphia SE chip index .SOX rose 1.8%.
Technology stocks .SPLRCT provided the biggest boost to
the benchmark index. Defensive sectors such as utilities
.SPLRCU and consumer services .SPLRCS posted the biggest
percentage rise.
U.S. private employers hired 428,000 workers in August,
according to the ADP report, far below economists' forecast of a
950,000 increase, signaling the labor market recovery was
slowing as the COVID-19 pandemic drags on and fiscal stimulus
fades. "It's a pretty substantial miss, but still much better than
what we saw last month, so there is a sustained yet modest
improvement," said Mike Loewengart, managing director of
investment strategy at E*TRADE Financial Corp in Jersey City.
Focus will now be on the government's comprehensive
employment report which is slated for Friday.
The U.S. Federal Reserve's move to revamp its policy
framework to support maximum employment has fueled a Wall Street
rally, and sent the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to new record highs.
The Dow is about 2% below its all-time high on Feb. 12.
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 election in November. President Donald Trump has overtaken Democratic rival Joe
Biden to stand as the favorite to win the election on
Europe-based betting exchange Betfair, while in a Reuters/Ipsos
national opinion poll on Wednesday, 40% of registered voters
supported Trump, compared with 47% who said they will vote for
Biden. At 10:28 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 228.93 points, or 0.80%, at 28,874.59 and the S&P 500
.SPX was up 22.21 points, or 0.63%, at 3,548.86. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 25.98 points, or 0.22%, at 11,965.65.
High-flying shares of Apple Inc AAPL.O , Tesla Inc TSLA.O
and Zoom Video Communications Inc ZM.O dropped between 1.7%
and 8.5%, curbing the tech-heavy Nasdaq's advance.
Macy's Inc M.N gained 1.9% after it reported a
smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, as shoppers stuck indoors
due to the pandemic bought more apparel using the department
store chain's app and website. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.15-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a
1.14-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 60 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 110 new highs and 22 new lows.