US STOCKS-Wall St climbs after Fed's Bowman hints at rate cut; Tesla jumps

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

*

Indexes up: Dow 0.09%, S&P 500 0.28%, Nasdaq 0.40%

*

Tesla up on robotaxi launch in Texas

*

US business activity moderates; price pressures building up

(Updates with afternoon trading levels)

By Kanchana Chakravarty and Nikhil Sharma

June 23 (Reuters) -

Wall Street's main indexes rose on Monday after dovish comments from the Federal Reserve's Michelle Bowman as well as gains in Tesla outweighed worries of potential oil supply bottlenecks following U.S. airstrikes on nuclear facilities in Iran.

Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, recently tapped by Trump as the central bank's top bank overseer, said the time to cut interest rates could be fast approaching.

She noted growing concerns about the job market and said she was less worried tariffs would lead to inflation.

Tesla's shares rose 9.7% after it deployed a small group of self-driving taxis picking up paying passengers on Sunday in Austin, Texas.

Meanwhile, oil prices dipped more than 1% to $76.2 per barrel, having touched a five-month high earlier as oil and gas transit continued on tankers from the Middle East after U.S. strikes against Iran over the weekend.

Tehran has repeatedly threatened to retaliate against the U.S. attacks, but is yet to do so in a meaningful way.

Equity markets have been pressured in recent days as the Israel-Iran attacks raised concerns about a wider conflict in the Middle East, disrupting oil prices and raising concerns about a resurgence in inflationary pressures.

The benchmark S&P 500 index was about 2.7% below its record level.

"I think the market is certainly in a holding pattern, waiting to see the level of Iran's response to the U.S. weekend attacks," said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird.

"There's a sense that investors are conditioned not to think that geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East will have a long-term impact on the market."

At 11:56 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 30.71 points, or 0.09%, to 42,243.19, the S&P 500 gained 16.72 points, or 0.28%, to 5,984.56, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 77.57 points, or 0.40%, to 19,524.98.

Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sub-sectors rose. Energy stocks fell 0.4%, while consumer discretionary led gains and was up nearly 2%.

The focus this week will be on U.S. core PCE data and the final GDP reading, as well as Fed Chair Jerome Powell's two-day semiannual testimony before Congress.

The central bank held interest rates steady in its June monetary policy meeting, but flagged inflationary risks due to higher trade duties.

Data on Monday showed U.S. business activity slowed marginally in June, while prices increased further amid President Donald Trump's tariffs, indicating that inflation might rise in the second half of 2025.

Among other movers, drugmaker Eli Lilly (LLY) edged up 0.7%. Its rival Novo Nordisk fell 5.3% after detailed trial data on its experimental obesity drug CagriSema failed to impress investors.

Northern Trust (NTRS) surged 6.9% after a Wall Street Journal report said Bank of New York Mellon (BK) approached the asset and wealth manager for a potential merger.

AI-server-maker Super Micro Computer (SMCI) dropped 6% after announcing a private offering of $2 billion five-year convertible bonds.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.51-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.05-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted seven new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 60 new highs and 77 new lows. (Reporting by Kanchana Chakravarty and Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Pooja Desai)