Stocks Ended Slightly Lower, Oil Prices Climbed

U.S. stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday after U.S. retail sales fell for the first time in seven months in September, offsetting a good start to the third-quarter corporate earnings reporting season. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.82 points, or 0.08%, to 27,001.98. The S&P 500 lost 5.99 points, or 0.20%, to 2,989.69. The Nasdaq Composite declined 24.52 points, or 0.30%, to 8,124.18.

Oil futures on Wednesday registered their first climb in three sessions. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery added 55 cents, or 1%, to settle at $53.36 a barrel. December Brent crude added 68 cents, or 1.2%, at $59.42 a barrel.

Netflix (NFLX) beat third-quarter earnings expectations in its final quarterly report. Netflix announced the net addition of 6.77 million paying subscribers in its third-quarter financial results. It had projected 7 million net subscription additions world-wide, a healthy jump from 6.1 million in the year-ago quarter.

International Business Machines Inc.(IBM) reported third-quarter net income of $1.67 billion, or $1.87 a share, compared with $2.69 billion, or $2.94 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were $2.68 a share.