By Amruta Khandekar and Shristi Achar A

Dec 8 (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes held steady in choppy trading on Friday as investors assessed a strong jobs report that underscored market optimism over a soft landing for the economy, although Alphabet shares were a drag.

The Labor Department’s report showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 199,000 jobs in November, compared with an estimated increase of 180,000.

Investors pared back bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in March after the report, but they are still pricing in the likelihood that the central bank is done raising rates.

“The ongoing strength in the labor market is a reality check to investors who had priced as much as 125 basis points of rate cuts in 2024,” said Ronald Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard.

Temple, however, added that the data “suggests the Fed is delivering a goldilocks scenario of lower inflation without recession which is the best outcome for risk assets.”

Alphabet GOOGL.O shares were a drag, dropping 1.5% after an AI-led rally in the previous session.

Rate-sensitive real estate sector .SPLRCR shed 1%, leading declines among the 11 S&P 500 sectors.

Helping sentiment was data showing U.S. consumer sentiment perked up much more than expected in December, snapping four straight months of declines.

At 11:56 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 14.83 points, or 0.04%, at 36,132.21, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 0.18 points, or 0.00%, at 4,585.77, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 4.32 points, or 0.03%, at 14,344.32.

Market optimism around peak interest rates and robust quarterly updates led to a rally in equities in November, with the S&P 500 .SPX>inching closer to its highest intraday level of the year at 4,607.07 points hit in July.

Among major stocks, HoneywellHON.O dipped 1.5% after the industrial firm said it would buy air conditioner maker Carrier Global’s CARR.N security business for $4.95 billion. Carrier’s shares rose 4.2%.

Paramount GlobalPARA.O soared 13.6% after reports of takeover interest in the media company. Peer Warner Bros Discovery WBD.O also added 6.7%.

DocuSignDOCU.O added 4.1% after the e-signature product provider raised its annual forecast for revenue.

The S&P index recorded 27 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 75 new highs and 56 new lows.

Payroll growth ebbs back toward pre-Covid trend Payroll growth ebbs back toward pre-Covid trend https://tmsnrt.rs/3deZoGA

(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar and Shristi Achar A; Editing by Anil D’Silva)

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Original: GOOGL Feed: US STOCKS-Wall St listless as traders digest jobs data, Alphabet weighs