Most of the US stock indices closed higher on Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve meeting minutes and the release of upbeat economic data.
The Federal Reserve meeting minutes showed that the central bank's members discussed a plan to reduce asset purchases by $15 billion per month.
The Fed members expected the central bank to start cutting the pandemic bond-buying program starting Mid-November.
Data showed today that the US consumer price index rose 0.4% during September, beating forecasts of 0.3%.
The core consumer price index reading (excluding energy and food prices) rose 0.2% last month as expected.
Major US banks kicked off the Q3 earnings reports season, which has a huge impact on the banking sector.
To the oil market, WTI crude November futures fell 0.3% or 20 cents, and closed at $80.44 a barrel.
Brent December futures fell 0.3% or 24 cents, and closed at $83.18 a barrel.
As for stocks, Dow Jones held at 34,377, with a day high of 34,449, and a low of 34,315.
S&P 500 rose 0.3% or 13 points to 4,363, after hitting a high of 4,372 and a low of 4,329 points.
Nasdaq rose 0.7% or 105 points to 14,571, with a high of 14,589 and a low of 14,471.