Investing.com – U.S stocks closed mostly higher as investors remained optimistic that corporates would continue to beat earnings expectations while bullish economic data lifted sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher at 23,435.01. The S&P 500 closed 0.16% higher while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6716.53, down 0.17%.
In what was busy day on the economic calendar investors mulled over an unchanged decision on interest rates from the Federal Reserve and mixed economic data as private sector job creation topped forecasts while manufacturing activity slowed.
Private U.S. employers added 235,000 jobs in October, according to a report released Wednesday by ADP and Moody's Analytics. That beat economists’ forecast of 200,000.
The Institute for Supply Management's index posted a reading of 58.7 in October, missing expectations for a reading of 60.
The data came ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve’s policy statement which did little to deter expectations of a year-end rate hike as the Fed said economic growth was solid despite hurricane-related disruptions.
"Information received,...,indicates that the labor market has continued to strengthen and that economic activity has been rising at a solid rate despite hurricane-related disruptions, " according to the FOMC statement.
On the corporate earnings front investor looked ahead to earnings from a few notable companies including both Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) slated to report after the market closes.
'Bulls and Bears' on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers for the session: Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) up 2.7%, DowDuPont Inc (NYSE:DWDP) up 1.4% and Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) up 1.4%
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), down 1.3%, General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) down 0.7% and Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) down 0.4%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.