Sept 9 (Reuters) - Wall Street's three main indexes scored record high closes on Tuesday, while UnitedHealth rallied, and a downward payrolls revision supported expectations the Federal Reserve will soon cut interest rates to shore up economic growth.
The S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones Industrial Average each ended with fresh all-time highs, extending a rally this year fueled by excitement about artificial intelligence and expectations of lower borrowing costs.
The U.S. economy likely created 911,000 fewer jobs in the 12 months through March than previously estimated, the government said, suggesting that job growth was already stalling before President Donald Trump launched his global tariffs.
Financial markets have priced in a 25 basis point cut at the Fed's policy meeting next week, and futures trading suggests a nearly 10% chance of a 50 basis point cut, according to CME's FedWatch tool.
Recent nonfarm payroll data for July and August also pointed to weakening labor market conditions.
"This does nothing to dissuade the Fed from moving 25 basis points," said Paul Nolte, a market strategist at Murphy & Sylvest in Chicago, about the payrolls revision. "We don't know month by month and won't for a few more months yet, but it points out that labor is weak."
UnitedHealth (UNH.N), jumped after it said it expects enrollment in top-rated Medicare insurance plans to be in line with its expectations, which could mean bigger payments from the government to the health insurer.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), rose 1.7% after a senior executive said investment banking revenue will grow in the low double digits for the third quarter and that markets revenue would grow in the high teens percentage for the third quarter.
"That's all good news, signs of a good, thriving economy. M&A is coming back after Trump's Liberation Day put a screeching halt to that," said Jed Ellerbroek, a portfolio manager at Argent Capital, referring to U.S. tariffs announced in April.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.27% to end the session at 6,512.61 points, surpassing its record last Thursday.
The Nasdaq gained 0.37% to 21,879.49 points, its second consecutive record high close.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.43% to 45,711.34 points, exceeding its previous record close on August 28.
Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, led by communication services (.SPLRCL), up 1.64%, followed by a 0.71% gain in utilities (.SPLRCU).
Year to date, the S&P 500 has gained about 11%, while the Nasdaq is up 13%.
Shares of Apple (AAPL.O), fell 1.5% after the company unveiled new iPhones that failed to excite investors.
Broadcom (AVGO.O), dipped 2.6% after the world's second most valuable chipmaker gained in the five previous sessions.
Investors will focus on a producer inflation report on Wednesday and consumer prices data on Thursday to gauge the impact of Trump's tariff policies, and whether a case could be made for more aggressive interest rate cuts.
Nebius (NBIS.O), soared almost 50% after the AI infrastructure firm signed a $17.4 billion deal with Microsoft (MSFT.O). Rival CoreWeave (CRWV.O), jumped 7%.
Class B shares of Fox Corp fell 6.7% and News Corp dipped 4.5%. Rupert Murdoch and his children reached an agreement that will give the eldest son, Lachlan Murdoch, control over the media empire.
Albemarle (ALB.N), plunged 11.5% due to easing supply concerns as Chinese battery company CATL is expected to resume production at a lithium mine.
In extended trade, Oracle (ORCL.N), surged 12% following its quarterly report.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones within the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX), by a 1.4-to-one ratio.
The S&P 500 posted 19 new highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 100 new highs and 64 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 15.6 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 16.1 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.
Reporting by Purvi Agarwal and Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru, and by Noel Randewich in San Francisco; Editing by Pooja Desai, Maju Samuel, Rod Nickel
