NEW YORK, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday as AI shares rebounded following SpaceX's quarterly results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 360.21 points, or 0.69 percent, to 52,856.09. The S&P 500 added 44.6 points, or 0.58 percent, to 7,757.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 278.04 points, or 1.05 percent, to 26,702.86.
Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in the green, with technology and industrials leading the gainers by going up 1.61 percent and 0.91 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, communication services and real estate led the laggards by losing 1.33 percent and 0.79 percent, respectively.
U.S. Treasury yields edged higher as a rebound in oil prices revived inflation concerns. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield approached 5.15 percent, up about three basis points from Tuesday's close, while the 30-year yield hovered near 5.43 percent. Yields remain near 19-year highs.
Oil prices settled mixed. West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped about 0.7 percent to 97.15 U.S. dollars a barrel, while Brent crude for December delivery traded flat.
On the corporate front, SpaceX soared nearly 7.8 percent to lead the Nasdaq 100, a day after the company reported its first profitable quarter as a public company. Its third-quarter revenue surged 161 percent, and CEO Elon Musk said the board and Tesla had formed special committees to discuss a possible merger.
Tesla rose about 3.4 percent ahead of its results after the close, while Meta Platforms added less than 0.5 percent and IBM gained almost 4 percent ahead of their own reports. Super Micro Computer surged 9.55 percent after raising its revenue guidance, while United Airlines jumped nearly 4 percent after its quarterly results. Nvidia climbed about 2.5 percent after unveiling new data-center products.
"In many ways, the 'heart' of earnings season starts today, even though earnings season is almost two weeks old. I say that, because the most important stocks in the market will release results over the next two weeks," wrote Tom Essaye of Sevens Report.
On the downside, AT&T retreated 6.45 percent to pace S&P 500 decliners despite beating expectations, as investors were disappointed by its wireless-subscriber numbers, while Netflix fell more than 5.3 percent after its revenue forecast missed estimates. Abbott Laboratories declined 1.89 percent and Philip Morris International pulled back 1.22 percent.
Traders continued to see about an 85-percent chance that the Federal Reserve holds rates steady at its Oct. 27-28 meeting, according to CME FedWatch, keeping attention on corporate earnings for direction. ■