(Updates to midafternoon, adds analyst comment)

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Indexes up: Dow 0.27%, S&P 500 0.28%, Nasdaq 0.41%

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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) - Wall Street's main indexes moved

higher on Friday after choppy trading earlier in the day, on

track for weekly gains, while FedEx ( FDX ) rose after positive

earnings.

The parcel delivery company rose 2.6% 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 ) added 3.1% following a price target raise

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

and Oracle drove the S&P 500 technology

sector higher.

Eight of the eleven S&P 500 sector indexes gained, led by

the technology and utility sectors, up 0.78% and

0.54%, respectively. Energy stocks led broader declines,

falling 1.37%.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were set for their third straight

week of gains, boosted by the Fed's first rate cut of 2025 and

indications of further monetary policy easing. Revived optimism

around AI-linked stock trading also added to the rise.

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.

At 2:27 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 125.28 points, or 0.27%, to 46,268.31, the S&P 500

gained 18.66 points, or 0.28%, to 6,650.62 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 92.93 points, or 0.41%, to 22,563.66.

The small-cap Russell 2000 index was down 0.64% 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, U.S. President Donald 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.

Wall Street's three main indexes are in positive territory

so far in September - a month deemed historically 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% after the

homebuilder reported a lower third-quarter profit and forecast

fourth-quarter home deliveries below estimates.

Paramount Skydance ( PSKY ) rose 5.6% after a CNBC report laid

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

Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ), which popped 1.3%. An offer could

come later than previously expected, according to CNBC.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.64-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE, and by a 1.52-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 24 new 52-week highs and 12 new

lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 123 new

highs and 37 new lows.