NEW YORK, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks traded mostly higher at midday Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average holding on at its record level, while the Nasdaq Composite Index retreated on slumping Tesla shares.
In midday trading, the Dow advanced 87.34 points, or 0.56 percent, to 15,705.56 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 stock- Index rose 4.32 points, or 0.25 percent, to 1,767.29 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 8.81 points, or 0.22 percent, to 3,931. 05 points.
Both the blue-chip Dow and the broader S&P 500 shot up to record territory shortly after the opening bell, but both indices moderated their early gains at midday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq retreated, weighed down by Tesla.
Tesla shares plunged 14.35 percent to trade at 151.45 U.S. dollars a share at noon, after the electric car maker reported third-quarter earnings late Tuesday.
The market sentiment was underpinned by dovish comments from San Francisco Fed President John Williams, who said on late Tuesday that the Fed should wait for stronger evidence of growth momentum before scaling back its asset purchases program.
Moreover, Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto will give a speech on Wednesday afternoon.
Investors are closely watching two important U.S. data to try to look for clues as to when the Federal Reserve may start tapering its bond purchases program.
The U.S. Commerce Department will release the third-quarter gross domestic product figure on Thursday, followed by October's nonfarm payrolls report by the Labor Department on Friday.
Investors are also keeping an eye on social media giant Twitter, which is expected to price its initial public offering late Wednesday and make its debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.
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