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Google-parent Alphabet down on potential DOJ action

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Boeing ( BA ) falls after talks with union halted

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Fed minutes show most officials supported big Sept rate

cut

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Indexes: Dow up 1.03%, S&P 500 up 0.71%, Nasdaq up 0.60%

(Updates with closing prices)

By Sinéad Carew and Lisa Pauline Mattackal

Oct 9 (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks advanced on

Wednesday with the S&P 500 and the Dow scoring record closing

highs after the release of Federal Reserve meeting minutes and

ahead of September inflation data and the earnings season.

Shares in market heavyweight Alphabet pared losses

to finish down 1.5% after the U.S. Department of Justice said it

may ask a judge to force Google to divest parts of its business.

These include its Chrome web browser and its Android operating

system, to curtail its search monopoly.

The Fed's September meeting minutes showed a "substantial

majority" of officials supported an outsized half-point rate

cut. However, there was broader agreement that the move would

not commit the Fed to any particular pace of cuts in the future.

Traders were last pricing in a roughly 79% chance of a

25-basis-point reduction in borrowing costs and a 21%

probability the Fed keeps rates on hold, according to CME's

FedWatch.

"The minutes confirmed what we'd thought all along and

relieved investors. There was a debate about the 50 basis point

cut, meaning that it wasn't a sweeping consensus that we needed

to do a drastic 50 basis point cut," said Lindsey Bell, chief

strategist at 248 Ventures in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The market is awaiting the Consumer Price Index inflation

report due on Thursday morning and the third-quarter corporate

earnings season, which kicks off in earnest with some of the

biggest U.S. banks reporting on Friday.

"The minutes were also further confirmation that the Fed

believes they've won the fight on inflation. So tomorrow's CPI

number shouldn't be too much of a surprise," said Bell.

Trading has been choppy this week, with investors adjusting

rate-cut expectations after a surprisingly strong September jobs

report suggested a U.S. economy that is in better shape than

investors had feared.

"There's an air of optimism in the market since the Friday

jobs report. Investors remain optimistic on the soft- to

no-landing scenario," she said, referring to the possibility

that the economy might even avoid a mild recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 431.63 points,

or 1.03%, to 42,512.00. The S&P 500 gained 40.91 points,

or 0.71%, at 5,792.04 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed

108.70 points, or 0.60%, to 18,291.62.

The S&P registered a closing record high for the first time

in October but for the 44th time in 2024. The last time the Dow

scored a closing record was on Oct. 4.

Of the S&P 500's 11 industry sectors 9 rose while

rate-sensitive utilities fell 0.9% and the

communications services index, which includes

Alphabet, lost 0.6%.

"News about antitrust initiatives create worries about what

that means for the technology sector broadly and specifically

the most dominant players," said Daniel Morris, chief market

strategist for asset management at BNP Paribas.

Investors were also monitoring any potential damage from

Category 5 Hurricane Milton.

The expanding hurricane was closing in on Florida's west

coast, spawning tornados and lashing the region with rain and

wind hours ahead of its expected landfall near Tampa Bay

Wednesday night where it could deliver a life-threatening surge

of seawater to communities already battered by Hurricane Helene.

Among prominent stocks, Boeing ( BA ) shares ended down 3.4%

after talks between the aerospace company and its key

manufacturing union broke down.

Among gainers, shares of Norwegian Cruise Line ( NCLH )

outperformed with a 10.9% advance after Citi upgraded its rating

to "buy." Its peer Carnival rose 7% while Royal

Caribbean Cruises ( RCL ) added 5.2%.

Shares of Arcadium Lithium ( ARLTF ) soared 30.9% after Rio

Tinto said it would acquire the miner for $6.7 billion.

U.S.-listed shares of China's Alibaba Group ( BABA ) dropped

1.6% and PDD Holdings ( PDD ) fell 2.3% as investors questioned

whether China would announce new stimulus measures.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.31-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE where there were 339 new highs and 49 new lows.

On the Nasdaq, 2,164 stocks rose and 2,113 fell as advancing

issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.02-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500

posted 52 new 52-week highs and two new lows while the Nasdaq

Composite recorded 88 new highs and 133 new lows.

On U.S. exchanges 11.09 billion shares changed hands

compared with the 12.04 billion moving average for the last 20

sessions.