Stocks were also supported by one of the biggest declines in market volatility on record, with the CBOE Group's VIX index falling more than 58% over the past seven trading days.

Wall Street quietly shifted between small gains and losses early Wednesday as markets wait for more inflation data that could influence the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision.

Markets in Asia and Europe mostly mirrored positive strides on Wall Street Thursday, as easing US consumer inflation buoyed hopes that a big interest rate cut was around the corner, and as economic growth in Japan outpaced expectations.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.4% to follow up on one of its best days of the year and climb within 3.7% of its all-time high set last month. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.6% to finish a day above the 40,000 level for the first time in nearly two weeks. The Nasdaq composite edged up less than 0.1%.

U.S. stocks are rising toward one of their best days of the year, and Wall Street is relaxing after the first of several highly anticipated reports on the economy this week came in better than expected.

Wall Street is holding relatively steady after the latest update on inflation came in almost exactly as economists expected. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% in early trading Wednesday, coming off