Wall Street traded near record highs on Thursday as fresh US economic data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week to support growth. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% in early trade after setting new records in the last two sessions, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 95 points and the Nasdaq composite added 0.4%, AP reported. Treasury yields stayed steady, signalling calm after the latest economic reports.Markets were buoyed by anticipation of a Fed rate cut, even as inflation remains above the 2% target and labour market data continues to show weakness. “Traders were already convinced the Fed will deliver its first cut to interest rates of the year at its next meeting, but they need inflation data until then to be mild enough not to derail those expectations,” analysts noted.Wall Street is betting the US economy can manage a “soft landing” — slowing enough to prompt monetary easing, but not collapsing into recession. An encouraging sign came from Wednesday’s wholesale inflation report, which showed price growth unexpectedly slowed in August.Among individual stocks, Opendoor jumped 36% after naming Shopify COO Kaz Nejatian as its new chief executive, with co-founders Keith Rabois and Eric Wu returning to the board. FedEx slipped 1.3% and UPS fell 2.1% after Bank of America downgraded both companies.In global markets, Europe’s major indexes gained at midday, with Germany’s DAX up 0.3%, Britain’s FTSE 100 advancing 0.5%, and France’s CAC 40 climbing 0.9%.In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 1.2% to 44,372.50, with SoftBank Group rallying 8.3% for a second straight day. Japan’s producer prices rose 2.7% year-on-year in August, up from 2.5% the prior month. China’s Shanghai Composite jumped 1.7% to 3,875.31, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dipped 0.4% to 26,086.32. Chipmakers Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp and Hua Hong Semiconductor rose 6% and 3.8% respectively, while Cambricon Technologies gained 9%.Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.9%, Taiwan’s Taiex edged 0.1% higher, and India’s Sensex gained 0.2%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.3%.