Stocks rose for a second session Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at records, as technology stocks powered higher and investors shook off geopolitical concerns.

The S&P 500 rallied 0.71% to end at 5,792.04 after notching an all-time high, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.6% to finish at 18,291.62. The 30-stock Dow surged 431.63 points, or 1.03%, to settle at 42,512.00 and at a record close.

Technology stocks were notable leaders in the rally, with Amazon and Apple gaining more than 1%. Super Micro Computer rallied 4%. Wednesday's advance helped correct a bumpy start to October, pushing the major averages into positive territory for the month.

Stocks maintained their gains after minutes from the Federal Reserve's September meeting, where it cut by a half percentage point, revealed that a "substantial majority of participants" favored reducing rates by the larger amount.

"The Fed is the key thing, that's the big driver," said Mike Bailey, director of research at FBB Capital Partners. "Again, anything can happen at any moment. You wake up and there's a headline about the hurricane, energy. At this point, we're really not seeing a lot of those risks getting priced in."

Wednesday's gains came despite lingering fears of a broader war in the Middle East and a disappointing session in China as investors took profits from the recent stimulus-fueled rally. The China Shenzhen registered its worst day since 1997{

China Shenzhen notches worst day since May 1997

The China Shenzhen Index slumped 8.7% and registered its worst day since May 22, 1997 on Wednesday as questions lingered over recent stimulus measures aimed at bolstering the economy.

The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 6.6% for its worst session since February 2020.

Popular U.S.-listed ETFs also struggled during premarket trading. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF slumped 2.3% and looked poised to build on Tuesday's 9.2% loss. The iShares MSCI China ETF and KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF lost 3.5% and 2.2%, respectively.

— Samantha Subin, Gina Francolla

iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) Alphabet DOJ is weighing a breakup

Wall Street is coming off a strong session driven by tech gains and easing oil prices. Those moves seemed to reflect growing optimism that the Fed can navigate a soft landing, especially after last week's jobs report showed continued strength in the labor market.

"There's still a tug-of-war taking place between the 'Big 4' tailwinds (stimulus, disinflation, resilient growth, and healthy corporate performance) and rich valuations ... and the result is an SPX that's caught in a sideways price pattern," wrote Vital Knowledge's Adam Crisafulli.

To be sure, even with an underlying uptrend, the market could face further choppiness in what's historically the most volatile month of the year — especially ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

On the economic front, investors await the September consumer and producer price index readings due out Thursday and Friday, respectively. Earnings season kicks off Friday with the big banks JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

Stocks finish higher, S&P and Dow hit new highs

Stocks rallied Wednesday and the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average notched new highs.

The S&P 500 rallied 0.7% to end at 5,792.04 after notching an all-time high, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.6% to finish at 18,291.62. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 431.63 points, or 1%, to settle at 42,512.00 and at a record close.

— Samantha Subin

Wall Street weighs in on Google antitrust case

The Department of Justice indicated this week that it's weighing a potential break up of search giant Google, and the news could hold headline risks for shares of parent company Alphabet.

Shares of Alphabet slipped about 2% Wednesday. The DOJ's framework on Tuesday was largely in-line with expectations, per JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth. However, it was "somewhat broad and unspecific in terms of exact remedies," he said, meaning that significant changes could be in store in the DOJ's final proposed remedies due on Nov. 20. 

To find out more about what Wall Street thinks is in store for Google, click here.

— Hakyung Kim

Hurricane Milton will hurt fourth-quarter real GDP growth, economist says

Hurricane Milton will hurt economic growth in the fourth quarter, according to EY Chief Economist Gregory Daco.

The destruction from the storm — which is expected to make landfall in south central Florida on Wednesday afternoon — is expected to hit real gross domestic product growth in the fourth quarter between 0.2 and 0.4 percentage points, according to the economist.

Florida could be even worse hit, with its fourth-quarter GDP growth cut by 3 to 4 percentage points, especially as residents evacuate to avoid the storm, he added. For context, with a $1.7 trillion economy, Florida has the fourth-largest economy in the U.S.

To be sure, some expect economic growth could be stimulated later on with reconstruction efforts. However, Daco expects any rebuilding will be "prolonged and staggered."

"One should be careful not to fall for the broken window fallacy – reconstruction efforts will entail greater spending (in part supported by government funding), but the economic gains will be spread over time and are unlikely to offset the economic output loss from the storm," Daco said.

— Sarah Min

Oil closes lower amid uncertainty over how Israel will hit Iran

Crude oil futures edged lower Wednesday, after selling off steeply in the previous amid uncertainty over how Israel will retaliate against Iran.

U.S. crude oil closed at $73.24 per barrel, down 33 cents or 0.45%. Global benchmark Brent settled at $76.58 per barrel, down 60 cents or 0.78%.

Oil futures sold off more than 4% on Tuesday as the rally on war risk in the Middle East has stalled out. Israel has vowed to hit back against Iran for last week's ballistic missile strike, but there is growing perception that it may not target oil facilities.

"From here, durable forms of supply disruption need to occur to see further advances for energy," Ryan Grabinski, managing director and investment strategist at Strategas.

— Spencer Kimball

Rio Tinto on pace for longest losing streak in more than three years

Shares of Rio Tinto fell 0.5%% in afternoon trading, putting the stock on track for its eighth consecutive day of losses. If the stock closes lower, this will mark its longest losing streak since March 23, 2021, when it saw eight straight days in the red.

The move comes after the miner announced it's acquiring fellow miner Arcadium Lithium in an all-cash transaction for $5.85 per share. Shares of that company surged more than 30% during Wednesday's session.

— Sean Conlon

Utilities stocks lag, S&P 500 sector falls 1%

Utilities stocks underperformed Wednesday, dragging down the S&P 500 sector more than 1%.

The sector was the worst performer in the broad index, led to the downside by a 7.5% drop in shares of Constellation Energy. NRG Energy shed 6.4%, while Vistra dropped 4%.

Real estate and communication services also lagged, falling about 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively. Alphabet and Match Group weighed on communication services, falling more than 2% each.

— Samantha Subin

Fed officials divided on September half-point cut, minutes show

The minutes from the Federal Reserve's September meeting showed central bank officials were split on whether to cut rates by a half percentage point.

"Some participants observed that they would have preferred a 25 basis point reduction of the target range at this meeting, and a few others indicated that they could have supported such a decision," the minutes stated.

Ultimately, the Fed lowered rates by a half point at the September meeting.

— Fred Imbert

Popular leveraged China ETF sustains heavy losses this week

Investors who bet that China's recent rally would continue in the short-term are getting burned right now.

The Direxion Daily FTSE China Bull 3X Shares ETF (YINN) has seen more than $1.3 billion in inflows over the past week, according to FactSet. That makes it the most fifth most popular ETF of any kind over that time frame.

However, the fund fell more than 30% on Tuesday, and is down more than 4% Wednesday.

Leveraged funds like YINN are designed to give exaggerated moves of an underlying index, and the fund has delivered multiple daily gains of more than 20% since the China rate cuts and stimulus were first announced. However, the investors who have only just gotten into the fund are likely sitting on significant losses.

— Jesse Pound

Astera Labs, Norwegian Cruise Line among the stocks making moves midday

Some stocks are making big moves in midday trading:

• Astera Labs – Shares gained more than 16% after the company, which sells data center connectivity chips, debuted new fabric switches for artificial intelligence. 
• Norwegian Cruise Line – Shares popped 10% on the heels of a Citi upgrade to buy from neutral. Citi said the company should see significant growth in earnings per share that can drive earnings upside and expand the margin.
• Bayer – U.S.-traded shares of the life sciences company fell around 7%. The Washington Supreme Court said it would review a case against the company that alleges that several people at the Sky Valley Education Center in Washington state were harmed from exposure to products made by its Monsanto unit.

Read here for the full list.

— Sean Conlon

32 stocks in the S&P 500 trade at new 52-week highs

32 stocks in the S&P 500 traded at new 52-week highs on Wednesday morning.

Tickers that hit this milestone included:

• Live Nation Entertainment trading at levels not seen since Apr, 2022
• Netflix trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in May, 2002
• Royal Caribbean trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in Apr, 1993
• Bank of NY Mellon trading at all-time highs back to the merger between BNY (the first company listed on the NYSE) and Mellon Financial in 2007
• GE Vernova trading at all-time highs back to its spin-off from GE in Apr, 2024
• Oracle trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO on March 12, 1986
• Paypal trading at levels not seen since Feb, 2023
• Home Depot trading at levels not seen since Dec, 2021
• Arista Networks trading at all-time high levels back to its IPO in June, 2014

On the other hand, just Zimmer Biomet and Boeing were trading at new 52-week lows.

— Lisa Kailai Han, Christopher Hayes

Information technology stocks surpass 30% gain this year

Recent advances have propelled the S&P 500 information technology sector's 2024 gain above the 30% mark.

The sector has added nearly 2% this week alone, bringing its year-to-date rally to more than 31%. By comparison, the S&P 500 is up only slightly on the week and has just around 21% when compared with the start of the year.

Nvidia and Palantir have helped drive this outperformance with respective surges of more than 160% and 140% this year. Fair Isaac and Arista Networks were the next biggest gainers, with each climbing more than 70% in 2024.

To be sure, several stocks in the sector have bucked the trend. Intel is poised to be the worst performer of the group this year with a drop of more than 50%. Adobe and On Semiconductor were also among the well-known names tracking for losses in 2024.

— Alex Harring

Dallas Fed's Logan backs a 'more gradual' pace of rate cuts

Dallas Federal Reserve President Lorie Logan on Wednesday recommended a gradual easing of interest rates as she worries that inflation could get "stuck" above the central bank's 2% goal.

In a speech delivered in Houston, Logan asserted that a "more gradual path back to a normal policy stance will likely be appropriate from here to best balance the risks to our dual-mandate goals."

Specifically, she said she worries that persistently high levels of demand and easing financial conditions — lower mortgage rates, higher stock prices and more accommodative credit backdrop — could stall the progress made in bringing down the inflation rate.

"These risks suggest the [Federal Open Market Committee] should not rush to reduce the fed funds target to a 'normal' or 'neutral' level but rather should proceed gradually while monitoring the behavior of financial conditions, consumption, wages and prices," said Logan, who will not be an FOMC voter until 2026.

—Jeff Cox

Investors should look for opportunities to position for a fourth-quarter rally, Canaccord Genuity says

Market volatility has escalated in recent days as fear has risen over mounting geopolitical tensions, another hurricane and the start of a rate-reduction cycle. The U.S. presidential election, less than four weeks away, has also contributed to the current atmosphere of uncertainty.

But in a Wednesday note, Canaccord Genuity pointed out that the market has a lot going in its favor including that third-quarter earnings growth is expected to be positive, albeit slow down. Analyst Michael Welch also noted that the fourth quarter of an election year has been positive 81.3% of the time, and positive 83.3% of the time when the S&P 500 has been up at least 10% prior to the last quarter. The benchmark index had risen 20.8% in the first three quarters of 2023.

"With a Fed rate cut cycle in place, a favorable seasonal period, a positive earnings trajectory, and the recent highs in both the S&P 500 Index and S&P 500 Equal Weight Index, we continue to believe now is not the time to fight the Fed or the tape, but it is an opportunity to position for a potential fourth-quarter rally, especially on any pullback," the analyst wrote.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Stocks open little changed

Stocks opened little changed on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hovered near the flatline, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declines 60 points, or 0.15%.

— Samantha Subin

Boeing, Alphabet, Blackstone among stocks making biggest premarket moves

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell.

• Boeing — Shares slipped 1.8% after the aerospace company withdrew a pay raise offer it made to 33,000 machinists on strike since mid-September. With the talks again breaking down this week, the continued strike will cost Boeing more than $1 billion per month, S&P Global Ratings said Tuesday as part of a negative outlook for Boeing's credit ratings.
• Alphabet — Shares dropped about 1% after the Justice Department submitted a court filing on Tuesday that gave a federal court a range of options, including setting restrictions or ordering a breakup, to end what it called an unlawful monopoly in search.
• Reddit — Shares rose more than 2% after Jefferies initiated research coverage with a buy rating and a Sreet-high price target. The investment firm cited advertising and data licensing tailwinds.

For the full list, read here.

— Pia Singh

Hurricane issues have historically been a headwind to Disney's operating income, says Raymond James

As Florida braces for the impact of Hurricane Milton, Raymond James says the storm could be a headwind to Disney's Orlando theme park if history is any guide.

"While hurricane issues are generally seen by investors as nonrecurring events, they do impact headline reported numbers, and Disney traded down ~3% on Monday as the potential magnitude of Hurricane Milton began to take shape," analyst Ric Prentiss wrote on Tuesday.

Past hurricanes have been meaningful headwinds to Disney, with Hurricane Ian just two years ago resulting in a roughly $65 million impact on the company's experiences operating income and forced its parks to close for two days. Hurricane Dorian in 2019 resulted in an around $50 million impact to operating income, while Hurricane Irma in 2017 hitting Disney's operating income for roughly $100 million and closed parks for two days.

— Brian Evans

China Shenzhen notches worst day since May 1997

The China Shenzhen Index slumped 8.7% and registered its worst day since May 22, 1997 on Wednesday as questions lingered over recent stimulus measures aimed at bolstering the economy.

The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 6.6% for its worst session since February 2020.

Popular U.S.-listed ETFs also struggled during premarket trading. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF slumped 2.3% and looked poised to build on Tuesday's 9.2% loss. The iShares MSCI China ETF and KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF lost 3.5% and 2.2%, respectively.

— Samantha Subin, Gina Francolla

Alphabet falls as DOJ considers Google breakup

Alphabet shares were down more than 1% after the U.S. Justice Department indicated it was considering a breakup of the tech giant following a monopoly ruling.

The changes are necessary to "prevent and restrain monopoly maintenance could include contract requirements and prohibitions; non-discrimination product requirements; data and interoperability requirements; and structural requirements," the department said in a filing.

— Fred Imbert

European markets strengthen after lackluster open

European markets edged higher on Wednesday after a lackluster start to the day, with defensive sectors, including utilities, food and beverage and healthcare, in positive territory.

Defensive sectors tend to perform better in times of economic uncertainty, with market participants assessing the risks of Chinese market volatility, conflict in the Middle East and the trajectory for central bank interest rate cuts and inflation.

Mid-morning, the Stoxx 600 index was trading 1% higher, as all sectors rose except for banks, which dipped by 0.3%.

Looking at individual stocks in Europe, the biggest losers on the pan-European Stoxx index were pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Bayer, which was down 6.4%, along with Dutch lender ING, which shed 3%.

The best performer on the index was Continental, up 6.5% after the German car parts maker said on a pre-close call on Tuesday that it expects the profitability of its automotive business to improve in the third quarter despite lower sales, Reuters reported.

— Holly Ellyatt

China's CSI 300 plunges 7%, snapping 10-day winning streak amid mixed trading in Asia

Chinese stocks sold off in a volatile day of trading amid mixed Asia-Pacific markets Wednesday.

The mainland CSI 300 dropped 7.05%, snapping a 10-day winning streak and closing at 3,955.98, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index tumbled 1.7% as of its final hour of trade in a choppy session.

On Tuesday, the HSI recorded its worst day in 16 years, closing 9.41% lower.

Other Asian markets climbed Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 rising 0.87% to 39,277.96, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edging up 0.13% and closing at 8,187,4.

— Lim Hui Jie

Fed lowered rates to maintain labor market’s strength, says Vice Chair Philip Jefferson

Federal Reserve policymakers sought to keep the labor market strong when they decided to trim the fed funds target range by a half point in September, according to prepared comments from Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson.

He spoke at an event at Davidson College in North Carolina on Tuesday night.

"The [Federal Open Market Committee] has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward our 2 percent goal," he said. "To maintain the strength of the labor market, my FOMC colleagues and I recalibrated our policy stance last month, lowering our policy interest rate by 1/2 percentage point."

The target range for the fed funds rate now sits at 4.75% to 5.00%.

Jefferson added that he will "carefully watch incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks when considering additional adjustments to the federal funds target range."

—Darla Mercado

Wholesale inventories data due out Wednesday

Wholesale inventories — which refers to the unsold inventory held by wholesalers — is expected to have risen 0.2% in August, according to economists polled by Dow Jones. That's in line with the 0.2% increase in the previous reading.

The data is due out 10 a.m. ET.

— Sarah Min

Stock market risk grows as yield curve steepens, Bank of America says

The risk that stocks will weaken increases as the Treasury yield curve between 2- and 10-year notes steepens, according to Bank of America technical analyst Stephen Suttmeier in a note to clients Tuesday.

The S&P 500, for example, "is vulnerable to bigger corrections when the yield curve is steepening," Suttmeier wrote. "The biggest correction the SPX has had since the yield curve bottomed in June 2023 is the late July 2023 into late October 2023 drop of 10.3%. This compares to the average and median biggest corrections of 26.5% and 20.3%, respectively, during yield curve steepening cycles."

Ten out of the last 12 steepening cycles coincided with U.S. recessions, the analyst noted.

The 10-year Treasury note yielded 4.01% in late trading Tuesday, versus 3.96% for the 2-year. On May 31, the 10-year yielded 4.51% while the 2-year yielded 4.89%.

— Scott Schnipper

U.S. stock futures open lower

U.S. stock futures opened lower Tuesday night.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell by 13 points, or 0.03%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.05% and 0.06%, respectively.

— Sarah Min