LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Wall Street has begun the new month with fresh gains ahead of the US central bank's policy announcement later in the day and various readings on the economy that some analysts said pointed to GDP growth in the vicinity of 3% in the final stretch of 2017.
At 1507 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 0.38% or 89.55 points at 23.465.38, alonsgide a 0.32% gain for the S&P 500 to 2,583.49 and an advance of 0.10% for the Nasdaq Composite to 6,733.58.

From a sector standpoint, the biggest gains were to be seen in Gambling (3.24%), Industrial metals (2.84%) and Distillers (2.74%).

In parallel, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was off by two basis points to 2.36%.

The Fed interest rate decision was due at 1800 GMT, with no change expected. Market participants would also be turning their attention to President Trump's announcement, due Thursday, about who will replace Janet Yellen as the Fed Chair following reports that he is leaning towards Fed Governor Jerome Powell.

Konstantinos Anthis at ADS Securities said: "Given that there will be no changes in policy today the focus will be on the forward guidance the Fed decides to provide investors with and with no press conference scheduled for November's meeting market participants will be eager to read what the accompanying statement has to offer.

"The dollar has been on the rise recently and even though it pulled back at the start of the week the bias remains to the upside. Should the Fed's statement point towards further tightening this year and more hikes in 2018 the dollar should extend its gains albeit at a moderate pace as traders will want to wait until Friday's non-farm payrolls report to avoid any unpleasant surprises."

Investors were also be keeping an eye out for Trump's tax reform bill, which was meant to be released on Wednesday but has been pushed back a day to resolve some issues.

On the economic front, the widely-followed ISM manufacturing sector purchasing managers' index slipped a tad more than expected in October, printing at 58.7, which was down from 60.8 for the previous month (consensus: 59.1).

Such a reading, Mickey Levy and Roiana Reid at Berenberg Capital Markets said, was consistent with 3% GDP growth in the last quarter of the year. Despite the slight miss, it was also at the 82bn percentile of all historical readings.

Also to take note of, according to ADP/Moody's private sector payrolls rose by 235,000 in October (consensus: 190,000) helped in part by reconstruction efforts in the wake of the recent hurricanes on the Gulf Coast.

In corporate news, auto manufacturers were in focus, with GM having posted a 2% drop in sales to 252,813 units alongside 13% fewer vehicles sold by Fiat, although Ford reported a 6.4% increase.

Sector wide estimates for the month of October were due out later on Wednesday.

Shares of US Steel were also in the spotlight, jumping in the wake of better-than-expected quarterly numbers out overnight which helped to quell concerns around the company on the back of rival AK Steel's latest set of figures published the day before. In particular, market participants took note of stronger than forecast guidance.

Meanwhile, in the background, investors were eyeing the first move by the nation's retailers to position ahead of Black Friday, as the day after the Thanksgiving holiday - which 'officially' marks the start of the holiday shopping season - is called with Amazon.com and E-Bay unveiling their plans for this critical quarter.

Stock of Clorox was also in the green after its fiscal first-quarter earnings beat analysts' estimates, while Estee Lauder shares were rocketing as the cosmetics maker's first-quarter financials surpassed analysts' forecasts.

Allergan was holding higher too after the biotech concern posted third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $4.15 versus consensus expectations of $4.04, while Molson Coors was in focus as the brewer reported third-quarter adjusted EPS in line with expectations and said full-year targets are unchanged.

Still to come, earnings were due from Facebook and Tesla after the close, along with Kraft, Heinz and Qualcomm.

Dow Jones - Risers

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $34.74 1.71%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $35.66 1.71%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $99.32 1.54%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $46.13 1.41%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $55.54 0.81%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $140.48 0.77%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $244.31 0.75%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $87.96 0.74%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $133.39 0.71%
Visa Inc. (V) $110.67 0.63%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $167.19 -1.09%
General Electric Co. (GE) $20.11 -0.26%
Boeing Co. (BA) $257.32 -0.26%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $47.78 -0.19%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $54.89 -0.18%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $83.15 -0.03%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $83.93 0.00%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $210.26 0.02%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $154.13 0.05%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $46.00 0.05%

S&P 500 - Risers

Estee Lauder Co. Inc. (EL) $122.17 9.26%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $27.41 8.25%
Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $90.47 6.37%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $39.09 5.93%
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $59.44 5.00%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $14.56 4.15%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $37.09 3.86%
Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN) $5.76 3.69%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $14.73 3.55%
Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) $27.58 3.10%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $9.39 -22.46%
Pitney Bowes Inc. (PBI) $11.48 -16.45%
CenturyLink Inc. (CTL) $17.83 -6.11%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $113.05 -5.48%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $71.84 -5.06%
Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc (ZBH) $115.94 -4.67%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $12.05 -3.75%
Fiserv Inc. (FISV) $124.60 -3.73%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $65.01 -3.72%
Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) $21.75 -3.33%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $90.47 6.37%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $37.09 3.86%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $208.68 3.41%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $24.73 2.91%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $151.56 2.76%
Liberty Global Plc Lilac Class A (LILA) $22.29 2.62%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $319.08 2.38%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $52.22 2.37%
Liberty Global Plc Lilac Class C (LILAK) $22.51 2.32%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $31.48 2.04%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $105.27 -10.57%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $113.05 -5.48%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $71.84 -5.06%
Fiserv Inc. (FISV) $124.60 -3.73%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $65.01 -3.72%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $322.26 -2.80%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $275.56 -2.26%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $117.07 -2.16%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $162.63 -2.13%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $110.88 -2.10%

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