NEW YORK, Aug 29 — Wall Street’s main indexes rose in early trade today after a drop in the latest monthly job openings added to hopes of a pause in interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve.

The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey (JOLTS), showed the number of job openings stood at 8.827 million in July, falling for the third straight month and signalling easing labour market pressures. Economists polled by Reuters had expected job openings of 9.465 million.

Investors also parsed another report from the Conference Board that showed consumer confidence in the United States fell to 106.1 in August, compared with expectations of 116.

"In both the JOLTS and the consumer confidence number, you’re seeing exactly what you’d want to see, a gradual decrease,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth.

"All of those things paint a picture for the potential of a soft landing.”

Multiple sets of economic data are scheduled to be released this week, including the personal consumption expenditures price index and non-farm payrolls.

Lack of hawkish surprises in Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comments at the Jackson Hole symposium last week had cushioned stocks yesterday, with the focus now on the economic data to gauge how long the central bank could keep interest rates elevated.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note eased to 4.14 per cent, supporting most growth stocks, with Amazon, Tesla and Nvidia up between 0.8 per cent and 2.6 per cent.

Alphabet added 2.2 per cent after the Google-parent unveiled a swath of fresh artificial-intelligence technology and partnerships.

Catalent climbed 7 per cent after the contract drugmaker reached a settlement with activist investor Elliott Investment Management to conduct a review. The S&P 500 health sector housing the stock was up 0.3 per cent.

At 10.19am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 133.71 points, or 0.39 per cent, at 34,693.69, the S&P 500 was up 29.35 points, or 0.66 per cent, at 4,462.66, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 133.76 points, or 0.98 per cent, at 13,838.89.

Shares of Salesforce slipped 1 per cent after JP Morgan removed the business software maker from its US analyst focus list.

Verizon and AT&T rose about 3 per cent each after Citi upgraded the telecom companies to "buy” from "neutral”.

US-listed shares of PDD Holdings rose 18.6 per cent after the e-commerce firm beat second-quarter revenue estimates.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 2.65-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 2.03-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded nine new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 28 new highs and 61 new lows. — Reuters