Stocks Closed Mostly Higher after Fed Minutes

U.S. stocks finished mostly higher on Wednesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s September policy meeting showed support for a rate rise relatively soon but implied a go-slow approach. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 15.54 points, or 0.09%, to 18,144.20. The S&P 500 advanced 2.45 points, or 0.11%, to 2,139.18. The Nasdaq Composite declined 7.77 points, or 0.15%, to 5,239.02.

Federal Reserve officials held off raising interest rates in September even though they said there was a reasonable argument for moving, according to meeting minutes released Wednesday.

U.S. job openings fell to an eight-month low in August and hiring was little changed, suggesting some easing in labor market conditions amid an aging economic recovery. Job openings, a measure of labor demand, declined 388,000 to a seasonally adjusted 5.4 million, the lowest level since December, after surging to a record high in July.

CSX Corp. posted better-than-expected quarterly results. CSX reported its third-quarter earnings fell to $455 million, or 48 cents a share, from $507 million, or 52 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue shrank 8% to $2.71 billion as coal volume slumped 21%.

Ericsson AB, one of the world’s largest makers of telecom equipment, Wednesday capped a series of management- shakeup and job-cut announcements with a profit warning that sent its share price tumbling and laid bare how the rise of Asian rivals has wounded Western suppliers.