US stocks edged higher in a quiet Wednesday, and Treasury yields rose following an encouraging update on the job market's strength.
- The S&P 500 rose 0.79 points, or less than 0.1%, to 5,709.54.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39.55 points, or 0.1%, to 42,196.52.
- The Nasdaq composite rose 14.76 points, or 0.1%, to 17,925.12.
Oil prices rose again as the world waits to see how Israel will respond to Tuesday's missile attack from Iran, but they pared their gains as the day progressed. After briefly topping $76 earlier, the price for a barrel of Brent crude settled at $73.90, up 0.5%.
On Wall Street, Caesars Entertainment jumped 5.3% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500. The casino owner said it approved a new program to deliver up to $500 million to shareholders by buying back more of its stock. Ciena climbed 7.4% after the networking company announced its own program to buy back up to $1 billion of its stock. They helped offset an 11.8% tumble for Humana after the insurer warned a drop in its quality ratings for Medicare Advantage could mean a hit to its revenue in 2026. Humana said it believes there may be errors in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' calculations, and it is trying to challenge the ratings.
Nike sank 6.8% even though the athletic giant reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its revenue fell short of forecasts. Conagra Brands fell 8.1% after the company behind Duncan Hines and Reddi-wip reported weaker profit than analysts expected. It said temporary manufacturing disruptions at its Hebrew National business during prime grilling season hurt its results. Tesla sank 3.5% despite reporting an increase in its deliveries of electric vehicles during the latest quarter, the first time that's happened this year.
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A report indicated hiring by US employers outside the government may have been stronger last month than expected. The report from ADP Research said private-sector employers accelerated their hiring in September. That could be an encouraging signal for the more comprehensive report on the US job market due to arrive Friday from the US government, the AP reports. he dominant question hanging over Wall Street has been whether the job market can keep holding up after the Federal Reserve earlier kept interest rates at a two-decade high. (More stock market stories.)
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