US close: Stocks gain ahead of final Presidential debate

US stocks rose on Wednesday on the back of some encouraging earnings reports, stronger oil prices and a solid reading on the economy from the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.22% higher at 18,202.62, the S&P 500 also rose 0.22% to 2,144.29 and the Nasdaq Composite was marginally above flat at 5,246.41.

Financial stocks led the Dow higher, helped by better than expected earnings from Morgan Stanley, following Goldman Sachs’ strong results on Tuesday.

Revenues at the Wall Street bank climbed 15% to $8.9bn, while earnings jumped 62% to $1.5bn and earnings per share soared to 81 cents from 48 cents, ahead of the 63-cent analyst estimate.

American Express led the Dow risers ahead of results that were released after the closing bell, which didn't disappoint, with adjusted earnings of $1.20 per share versus analysts expectations of 97 cents a share.

Credit card rival Visa was up too, rebounding after the resignation of its CEO.

Oilfield company Halliburton climbed as it posted a surprise quarterly profit.

Fallers were led by Intel, which tanked after it reported better third quarter profits but provided forecasts that were rather disappointing.

The Fed released its latest Beige Book, which summarises conditions around the regions, said the US economy grew at a modest to moderate rate in all but one of region.

"Wage growth held fairly steady at modest levels, although some districts reported rising pressure for certain sectors," the Fed said.

On inflation, the book reported mild overall price growth despite the tight labor market conditions across most districts.

Oil prices rose after Saudi Arabia’s oil minister Khalid Al-Falih said many countries outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) were prepared to join an output deal to cut production in order to steady the market.

West Texas Intermediate was up 2.3% to $51.43 per barrel and Brent crude added 0.9% to $52.53.

Soothing worries about a global supply glut elsewhere, official data showed weekly US crude inventories fell last week. US crude inventories fell 5.2m barrels to 468.7m barrels in the week to 14 October, the Energy Information Administration said.

Ahead of the last presidential debate in Las Vegas at 0200 BST, Hillary Clinton was six points ahead of rival Donald Trump, according to the weekly NBC News/Survey Monkey poll.

“Markets have been very responsive to how the election campaign has gone so far, particularly those most vulnerable to the outcome such as Mexico, with the Peso experiencing large amounts of volatility,” Craig Erlam, chief analyst at Oanda said.

“Should Trump once again fail to secure a victory in tonight’s debate, it could aid risk appetite heading into tomorrow’s session and provide another boost for the peso.”

Meanwhile, data from the Commerce Department revealed that housing starts fell 9% in September, the second straight month, to a yearly rate of 1.047m.

However, building permits for privately owned housing units increased by 6.3% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted 1.225m.

Dow Jones - Risers

American Express Co. (AXP) $61.25 1.95%
Visa Inc. (V) $82.81 1.51%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $51.80 1.13%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $174.58 1.09%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $68.35 0.96%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $116.23 0.91%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $88.00 0.89%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $91.93 0.83%
Boeing Co. (BA) $136.18 0.80%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $144.37 0.68%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $35.51 -5.93%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $85.54 -2.18%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $114.59 -0.71%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $61.87 -0.35%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $117.12 -0.30%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $30.35 -0.30%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $32.60 -0.28%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $99.76 -0.23%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $57.53 -0.23%
3M Co. (MMM) $169.91 -0.02%

S&P 500 - Risers

United States Steel Corp. (X) $18.49 7.63%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $41.92 5.94%
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $10.46 5.66%
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO) $17.79 4.83%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $49.09 4.25%
Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) $29.32 3.97%
CBRE Group Inc (CBG) $27.70 3.94%
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $44.18 3.88%
Borg Warner Inc. (BWA) $34.88 3.69%
Delta Airlines Inc. (DAL) $40.90 3.65%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Assurant Inc. (AIZ) $83.67 -8.38%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $35.51 -5.93%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $681.58 -5.56%
Genuine Parts Co. (GPC) $92.35 -4.39%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $34.32 -2.89%
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) $40.01 -2.82%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $21.58 -2.40%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $85.54 -2.18%
Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) $46.30 -2.07%
Tesoro Corp. (TSO) $79.82 -1.99%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

American Airlines Group (AAL) $40.63 3.25%
Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) $67.37 3.22%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $32.52 2.78%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $121.87 2.59%
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $42.73 2.52%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $203.56 2.24%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $38.92 1.99%
Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) $28.72 1.81%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $25.61 1.59%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class C (DISCK) $24.86 1.47%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $35.51 -5.93%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $681.58 -5.56%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $34.32 -2.89%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $82.76 -1.49%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $27.76 -1.39%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $81.83 -1.36%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $84.32 -1.26%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $77.18 -1.15%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $17.22 -1.12%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $161.08 -1.06%