Stocks Closed at All Time Highs

U.S. stocks closed firmly higher on Wednesday, with all of the main equity benchmarks notching records, as buying appetite resumed on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 66.02 points, or 0.31%, to 21,640.75. The S&P 500 added 13.22 points, or 0.54%, to 2,473.83. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 40.74 points, or 0.64%, to 6,385.04.

Oil futures settled at their highest level in about six weeks Wednesday after U.S. government data showed a sizable decline in U.S. crude stockpiles for a third week in a row. The August contract for West Texas Intermediate crude tacked on 72 cents, or 1.6%, to finish at $47.12 a barrel. September Brent crude rose 86 cents, or 1.8%, to $49.70 a barrel.

Builders broke ground on more homes in June, and figures from a prior month were revised up, allaying fears that the housing recovery had stumbled in the spring. Housing starts were at a 1.22 million seasonally adjusted annual rate, the Commerce Department said Wednesday, 8.3% higher than in May and 2.1% higher for the year.

The parent company of HGTV and Food Network has held discussions about selling itself to Discovery Communications, people briefed on the matter said on Wednesday, raising the prospect of further consolidation in a rapidly changing media industry.

American Express Co on Wednesday reported a 36 percent decline in quarterly profit, hurt in part by higher spending on rewards to retain customers and attract new ones. Net income attributable to common shareholders fell to $1.31 billion, or $1.47 per share in the second quarter ended June 30, from $1.98 billion, or $2.10 per share, a year earlier.

Qualcomm Inc reported a 40 percent slump in quarterly profit, hurt in part by its escalating patent battle with Apple Inc. Net income attributable to the company fell to $866 million, or 58 cents per share, in the third quarter ended June 25 from $1.44 billion, or 97 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 11.1 percent to $5.4 billion.