US STOCKS-Nasdaq and S&P 500 End Higher, Fueled By Inflation Optimism

* Growth stocks lead value, Nasdaq rallies

* Nasdaq and S&P 500 gain for second day

Nov 11 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended higher on Friday, extending a rally started the day before after a soft inflation reading raised hopes the Federal Reserve would get less aggressive with U.S. interest rate hikes.

Amazon jumped, with Apple and Microsoft also making gains and contributing to the Nasdaq's strong gain.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq racked up their biggest daily percentage gains in more than 2-1/2 years as annual inflation slipped below 8% for the first time in eight months.

Declines in healthcare stocks weighed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, with UnitedHealth Group down for the day.

"What we're really seeing today is simply a follow-through on yesterday. There's a lot of cash sitting on the sidelines that is being put to work," said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York.

"Perhaps it signals some type of bottom being put in the market, some type of line drawn in the sand. But even if we put in a bottom, we're a long way away from setting new highs,” Ghriskey said.

Investors see an 81% chance of a 50-basis point rate hike in December and a 19% chance of a 75-basis point hike, according to CME Fedwatch tool.

Adding some nervousness on Wall Street, crypto exchange FTX said it would start U.S. bankruptcy proceedings and that CEO Sam Bankman-Fried resigned due to a liquidity crisis that prompted intervention from regulators around the world.

The S&P 500 gained 36.56 points, or 0.92%, to end at 3,992.93 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 209.18 points, or 1.88%, to 11,323.33. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 32.49 points, or 0.1%, to 33,747.86.

Worries about an economic downturn have hammered Wall Street this year. The S&P 500 remains down about 16% year to date, on course for its biggest annual decline since 2008.

U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies rose, with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd gaining after China eased some of its strict COVID-19 rules.