The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped to a fresh record high on Wednesday as investors were encouraged by better-than-expected third-quarter earnings reports. While the benchmark had surpassed its high from August on an intraday basis, the Dow is about 0.1% from its record close. The S&P 500 also climbed higher, closing less than 0.2% from its own record. However, the Nasdaq slipped slightly lower by 0.05%.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
PayPal is in late-stage talks to acquire Pinterest:
PayPal
Pinterest's stock was halted twice throughout Wednesday's session, before closing up more than 12%. PayPal, meanwhile, closed down nearly 5%.
PayPal has discussed acquiring the company for a potential price of around $70 a share, according to Bloomberg, which would value Pinterest at about $39 billion.
Adobe predicts reach U.S. e-commerce sales this holiday season:
Adobe
The firm expects online sales during the period of Nov. 1 to Dec. 31 to reach an all-time high of $207 billion in the United States, representing an increase of 10% compared to the same period in 2020. Globally, Adobe expects online sales to grow 11% over last year to reach $910 billion.
"Compared to a pre-pandemic period, the prevalence of out-of-stock messages has risen a whopping 172% going into the holiday season," Adobe said in its press statement. "Adobe expects it to remain at this level, increasing for certain products throughout the season."
The firm added apparel was currently experiencing the highest level of out-of-stocks, followed by sporting goods, baby products and electronics.
Mortgage rates climb to highest level since April:
U.S. mortgage rates climbed to their highest level in six months amid rising benchmark interest rates and increasing inflation expectations alongside a rise in prices for a broad range of goods and services.
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate increased to 3.23% for the week ended Oct. 15, according to a weekly update from the Mortgage Bankers Association published Wednesday. This compared to 3.18% during the prior week.
The latest rate rise was the highest since April, and represented an increase of more than 0.25 percentage points since late July.
Moreover, mortgage application volume also dropped by 6.3%, with the rise in rates turning many potential homebuyers away from entering the market. During the previous week, mortgage applications had increased by 0.2%.
Here's how market benchmarks started trading soon after open:
S&P 500 Index: +0.17% or +7.74 points to 4,527.37
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.09% or +30.55 points to 35,487.86
Nasdaq Composite Index: +0.15% or +20.24 points to 15,151.30
