Growth stocks lift Wall Street, all eyes on Jackson Hole; Tesla rises

Tesla rises ahead of stock split; Nordstrom dives after cutting profit forecast; Intuit gains on upbeat revenue forecast, Q4 results

Wall Street's main indexes rose on Wednesday with megacap growth stocks leading gains after a tech selloff in the last few sessions, ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole conference this week.

All 11 major S&P 500 sectors advanced in mid-day trading, with information technology, consumer discretionary and communication services stocks up between 0.4% and 1.1%.

Boosting the tech-heavy Nasdaq, Tesla Inc gained 1.6% ahead of its stock split, while Intuit Inc rose 6.1% after the accounting software maker forecast upbeat fiscal 2023 revenue.

Banks rose 0.6%, on track to snap their five day slump.

The major Wall Street indexes posted losses in the past three sessions after a summer rally was halted by growing concerns of a hawkish stance by the Fed, an energy crisis in Europe and signs of economic slowdown in China.

Investor focus will be on the Jackson Hole symposium which begins on Thursday and remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell the day after for clues on whether the central bank can achieve a "soft landing".

"Markets are probably going to be in a holding pattern over the next couple of days ... all eyes are on Friday and what Powell is going to say in his speech," said Adam Phillips, managing director of portfolio strategy at EP Wealth Advisors.

"Powell is likely to deliver a hawkish message where he just sticks to the script of saying that the risk of doing too little in fighting inflation far outweighs the risk of doing too much." Traders are split between expecting a 50-basis point hike and a 75-basis point hike by the U.S. central bank.

Markets had bounced back from bear market lows on better-than-expected results from corporate America and data suggesting that inflation may have peaked, but fears of an aggressive Fed snapped the summer rally last week.

The S&P 500 has recovered 14% from its mid-June lows.

The benchmark index will end the year a little above its current level, according to a Reuters poll.

Meanwhile, surveys on Tuesday showed the global economy is increasingly at risk of sliding into recession as consumers faced with generation-high inflation rein in spending, while central banks are tightening policy aggressively.

At 11:51 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 162.91 points, or 0.50%, at 33,072.50, the S&P 500 was up 24.99 points, or 0.61%, at 4,153.72, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 113.34 points, or 0.92%, at 12,494.64.

President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that the U.S. government will forgive $10,000 in student loans for many debt-saddled college-goers, a move that could boost support for his fellow Democrats in the November congressional elections but also may fuel inflation.

Nordstrom Inc tumbled 18.7% after the retailer cut its annual revenue and profit forecasts, a sign that inflation was squeezing consumer spending on its high-end clothing and footwear.

Chipmaker Nvidia Inc rose 1.2%, while Salesforce Inc gained 2.6%, ahead of their quarterly results after the bell.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 2.55-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 2.07-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded one new 52-week high and 30 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 28 new highs and 81 new lows.