(Recasts with record closing highs, adds details on volume )

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Indexes up: Dow 0.37%, S&P 500 0.49%, Nasdaq 0.72%

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FedEx ( FDX ) results top targets on cost-cutting, shares jump

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Lennar ( LEN ) drops on weak forecast

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Trump, Xi make trade progress in first call since June

By Abigail Summerville and Purvi Agarwal

Sept 19 (Reuters) - All three of Wall Street's main

indexes registered record closing highs for a second straight

day on Friday, with trading volume hitting its highest level

since April, as FedEx ( FDX ) rose after upbeat earnings.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq notched their third straight week of

gains, boosted by the Federal Reserve's first rate cut of 2025

on Wednesday and indications of further monetary policy easing.

Volume on U.S. exchanges on Friday was 27.78 billion shares,

compared with the 17.41 billion average for the full session

over the last 20 trading days. Trading volume in early April

broke U.S. records as the market was whipsawed in the wake of

U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff announcements.

Shares of parcel delivery company FedEx ( FDX ) popped 2.3% after it

reported quarterly profit and revenue above analyst estimates on

Thursday, as cost-cutting and strength in domestic deliveries

helped offset weaker international volumes.

Apple ( AAPL ) rose 3.2% following a price target raise from

J.P. Morgan, while gains in Palantir Technologies ( PLTR ) and

Oracle also drove the S&P 500 technology

sector up 1.19%.

Seven of the 11 S&P sector indexes rose, while energy

stocks were the biggest drag.

Wall Street wavered earlier in the day as investors

continued to digest the Fed's outlook and get a read on Stephen

Miran, its newest governor and White House economic adviser, who

spoke on CNBC on Friday morning.

"Certainly if the idea is the Fed is moving in a direction

to relax the inflation target, that is definitely a recipe for

running hot, and that's good for stocks," said Scott Ladner,

chief investment officer at Horizon Investments.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 172.85 points,

or 0.37%, to 46,315.27, the S&P 500 gained 32.40 points,

or 0.49%, to 6,664.36 and the Nasdaq Composite

gained 160.75 points, or 0.72%, to 22,631.48.

For the week, the S&P 500 rose 1.2%, the Nasdaq climbed 2.2%

and the Dow added 1.05%.

The small-cap Russell 2000 index dropped 0.71% after

briefly hitting an intraday record high. It notched a record

close on Thursday, its first since November 2021.

"Small caps have been trading inversely with rates, and it's

just the idea of small caps benefiting disproportionately from

lower interest rates," Ladner said.

Meanwhile, Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping spoke by

phone, after which Trump said that the two leaders made progress

on a TikTok deal and agreed to a face-to-face meeting as soon as

next month in South Korea.

Also on Friday, the Senate blocked a short-term funding bill,

increasing the likelihood of a U.S. government shutdown.

Wall Street's three main indexes are in positive territory

so far in September - a month traditionally deemed bad for U.S.

equities. The benchmark S&P 500 has shed 1.4% on average in the

month since 2000, according to data compiled by LSEG.

In other stock news, Lennar ( LEN ) fell 4.2% after the

homebuilder reported a lower third-quarter profit and forecast

fourth-quarter home deliveries below estimates.

Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ) jumped 5.9% after a CNBC report

laid out more details about the media company's potential bid

for Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ), which rose 3.4%. An offer

could come later than previously expected, according to CNBC.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.43-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE, and by a 1.42-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 30 new 52-week highs and 17 new

lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 151 new

highs and 54 new lows.