The main US stock indices grew moderately, while the S & P 500 and Nasdaq again updated their record highs, helped by the rise in the price of Amazon.com (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOG) shares, as well as optimism about trade negotiations between the US and Canada.

In addition, as it became known, unfinished transactions for the sale of housing fell in July, continuing the general trend of recent months, reflecting the lack of supply in the market. The National Association of Realtors said on Wednesday that its forecast domestic sales index based on contracts signed last month fell by 0.7% to 106.2 in July. Economists had expected an increase of 0.3%.

Quotes of oil rose by about 1.7%, supported by news of the fall in supplies of Iranian oil, as well as fresh data from the Ministry of Energy of the United States on oil products stocks. The export of Iran's crude oil and condensate in August should fall below 70 million barrels for the first time since April 2017, long before November 4, the start date of the second round of US economic sanctions, showed preliminary data on trade flows from Thomson Reuters Eikon.

Most components of DOW have finished trading in positive territory (18 out of 30). The leader of the growth were shares of Microsoft Corporation (MSFT, + 1.60%). Outsider were the shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA, -0.89%).

All sectors of S & P recorded a rise. The commodities sector grew most (+ 0.8%).

At closing:

Dow 26,124.57 +60.55 +0.23%

S & P 500 2,914.04 +16.52 +0.57%

Nasdaq 100 8.109.69 +79.65 +0.99%

U.S. stock-index futures traded flat on Wednesday, as investors awaited news on progress in the talks between the U.S. and Canada.

Global Stocks:

(company / ticker / price / change ($/%) / volume)

Amazon (AMZN) target raised to $2500 from $1850 at Morgan Stanley

Barrick Gold (ABX) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Citigroup

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) reported Q3 FY 2018 earnings of $0.44 per share (versus $0.30 in Q3 FY 2017), beating analysts' consensus estimate of $0.37.

The company's quarterly revenues amounted to $7.764 bln (+3.5% y/y), beating analysts' consensus estimate of $7.674 bln.

The company issued in-line guidance for Q4, projecting EPS of $0.39-0.44 (versus analysts' consensus estimate of $0.42). It also raised FY 2018 EPS to $1.50-1.55 from its prior guidance of $1.40-1.50 (versus analysts' consensus estimate of $1.47).

HPE rose to $16.99 (+1.49%) in pre-market trading.