* S&P 500, Dow higher, Nasdaq out front, up more than 1%

* Treasury yields fall

* US manufacturing slumps further in February

NEW YORK, March 1 (Reuters) - A global equity index rose and Treasury yields fell on Friday after weak U.S. economic data and comments from Federal Reserve officials bolstered expectations for interest rate cuts later this year.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its manufacturing PMI fell to 47.8 last month from 49.1 in January, the 16th straight month that the PMI remained below 50. This indicates contraction in manufacturing.

The University of Michigan surveys of consumers showed all three measures for sentiment, current conditions and consumer expectations falling more than expected.

Also on Friday, Fed Governor Chris Waller kindled hopes for lower interest rates, saying decisions about the ultimate size of the Fed balance sheet has no bearing in its inflation fight rate policy.

On Thursday, U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) report came in in-line with expectations and showed annual inflation growth the smallest in three years.

"When you take all of it together, you're seeing the balance tilting a little bit more toward the likelihood of there being more rate cuts, which has supported equities," said Sinead Colton Grant, chief investment officer at BNY Mellon Wealth Management.

She also said equities drew support from a stronger than expected earnings season and enthusiasm about artificial intelligence.

A note of caution came from Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin, who said U.S. price pressures still exist and it is

too soon to predict

when the Fed will cut rates.

On Wall Street at 02:53 p.m. EST

(1953 GMT)

, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 80.25 points, or 0.21%, to 39,076.64, the S&P 500 gained 41.05 points, or 0.81%, to 5,137.32 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 198.67 points, or 1.23%, to 16,290.60.

On Thursday, the Nasdaq closed at a record high for the first time in more than two years, spurred by gains in AI-linked stocks such as chip designer Nvidia and others.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 5.94 points, or 0.78%, to 767.22. The STOXX 600 index had closed up 0.6%.

Earlier, Eurostat figures published showed inflation across the 20-nation euro zone also eased to 2.6% in February from 2.8% a month earlier.

Global factory surveys on Friday showed manufacturing output had continued to fall in both Europe and Asia.

Earlier, in Asia, Japan's Nikkei index jumped 1.9% to hit a fresh all-time high, extending a surge of 7.9% the previous month when it breached levels last seen in 1989.

In U.S. Treasuries, the two-year yield fall sharply after the manufacturing data and Waller's suggestion of the need for more shorter-dated Treasuries.

The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, fell 11.9 basis points to 4.5271%, from 4.646% late on Thursday.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 6.8 basis points to 4.184%, from 4.252% while the 30-year bond yield fell 4.4 basis points to 4.3313% from 4.375%.

In currencies, the dollar gained against the Japanese yen after Bank of Japan (BOJ) governor Kazuo Ueda said it was too soon to declare victory on inflation, but the dollar was down against the euro.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened 0.07% to 150.09 yen. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, fell 0.23% to 103.88, while the euro was up 0.33% at $1.0839.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin was up 1.28% at $62,231 after hitting a more than two-year high of $63,933 on Wednesday.

In commodities, oil prices settled higher as traders awaited an OPEC+ decision on supply agreements for the second quarter while they weighed U.S., European and Chinese economic data.

U.S. crude settled up 2.2% at $79.97 a barrel and Brent finished at $83.55 per barrel, up 2% on the day.

In metals, gold started the month on a positive note, with prices rising to a two-month high the muted economic data.

Spot gold added 2.07% to $2,085.49 an ounce.

(Additional reporting by Sinead Carew in New York, Naomi Rovnick in London and Stella Qiu in Sydney; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Josie Kao and David Gregorio)