Wall Street set for steady start after S&P 500's record close

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Wall Street looks set for a calm end to the week, with US stock futures drifting close to flat on Friday.

That comes after the S&P 500 powered to a fresh record high on Thursday, buoyed by softer-than-expected inflation figures and receding worries about further Federal Reserve interest rate rises.

Contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average nudged up 0.1%, while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 dipped just below the waterline.

The mood was helped by a bright session in Asia, where South Korea's KOSPI jumped more than 1.4% and Japan's Nikkei added 0.8%.

A run of strong corporate earnings has done much of the heavy lifting for stocks lately.