U.S. stock indices closed higher on Wednesday, helped by strong results from Meta and Tesla that boosted confidence in tech shares. The S&P 500 rose 0.6%, the Nasdaq 100 gained 1.1%, the Dow rose 0.7%, and the Russell 2000 added 0.3%. SpaceX shares jumped 7% after its revenue rose 161% in Q3, and Elon Musk said SpaceX and Tesla had set up special committees to evaluate a potential merger, lifting Tesla shares over 3% ahead of its quarterly report. A New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion for deceiving users about data privacy and content moderation after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, while IBM shares rose 3% after hours after its third-quarter results beat expectations.
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Related tickers and likely impact
META
▲ Likely positiveMeta Platforms
Relevance: medium
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Communication Services |
| Industry | Interactive Media & Services |
| Market cap | $1.9T |
| Close on 10/21/2026 | 698.43 |
| Change that session | +0.60% |
QQQ
▲ Likely positiveInvesco QQQ Trust
Relevance: medium
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | ETF |
| Close on 10/21/2026 | 725.21 |
| Change that session | +1.06% |
SPY
▲ Likely positiveSPDR S&P 500 ETF
Relevance: medium
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | ETF |
| Close on 10/21/2026 | 773.13 |
| Change that session | +0.53% |
TSLA
▲ Likely positiveTesla, Inc.
Relevance: medium
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Consumer Discretionary |
| Industry | Automobile Manufacturers |
| Market cap | $1.4T |
| Close on 10/21/2026 | 386.55 |
| Change that session | +3.44% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
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