S&P 500 edges up, Dow jumps 1% as health care and small caps lead

The S&P 500 closed at 7,711.06, up 0.26%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.02% to 52,495.88 and the Nasdaq Composite was nearly flat, slipping 0.02% to 26,424.82. The Russell 2000 of smaller companies outperformed with a 1.66% gain, the 10-year Treasury yield eased to 5.118%, and the VIX, a measure of expected market volatility, fell 6.13% to 17.31.

The biggest S&P 500 moves

Equifax led gainers, up 11.33%, after Barron's reported the credit-data firm posted better-than-expected third-quarter earnings even as it trimmed its full-year revenue outlook on a weaker mortgage market. Hasbro rose 11.20% after Investor's Business Daily said strong Magic: The Gathering sales and raised full-year revenue growth expectations drove the toymaker's results. Moderna gained 6.69%, and 3M climbed 5.78% after CNBC reported the industrial company raised its full-year profit forecast on cost controls and price increases. Gartner added 5.73%, a move MarketWatch had flagged as part of a broader strong trading session. On the downside, General Motors fell 6.84%; Bloomberg and RTTNews both reported the decline came even as the automaker posted higher quarterly profit and revenue, tightened its full-year guidance range, and unveiled a new $20 billion stock buyback plan. DaVita, Genuine Parts Company, Comfort Systems USA and Howmet Aerospace also finished among the day's steepest decliners.

Sectors

Ten of the eleven sectors finished higher. Health care led with a 2.38% gain, followed by real estate and utilities, while technology was the only sector to decline, slipping 0.27%. Financials and consumer discretionary also posted solid gains, rounding out a broadly positive session outside of technology.

New highs and lows

Twenty S&P 500 stocks touched a 52-week high today, while one stock touched a 52-week low. Moderna, Biogen and Hilton Worldwide were among those reaching new highs, while Mosaic Company was the lone stock to touch a new low.

On the calendar

Housing starts fell 5.2% in September to 1.22 million, missing the 1.3 million consensus, while building permits declined 0.2% to 1.4 million, slightly better than the forecast decline of 0.7%. Pending home sales also came in well below expectations, dropping 7.3% on the month against a forecast decline of just 0.5%, with the year-over-year figure down 11.3% versus a forecast gain of 1%.

Tomorrow, Abbott Laboratories, CME Group, Danaher, Elevance Health, Moody's Corporation, NextEra Energy, Northern Trust, Philip Morris International and AT&T will report results before the market opens. Crown Castle, CSX, Globe Life, IBM, Kinder Morgan, Lam Research, Southwest Airlines, Las Vegas Sands, Packaging Corporation of America, Rollins and Meta Platforms will report after the close.