U.S. stocks traded slightly better today despite unexpected earnings results from major companies. Some have begun to blame the slowing of global economic growth as the major factor behind third quarter misses. Meanwhile, Facebook (F  ) CEO Mark Zuckerberg began delivering testimony before the House Financial Services Committee over the company's cryptocurrency project.

Here's how the stock market settled mid-week:

S&P 500 Index (SPY): +0.28% or 8.53 points

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA): +0.17% or 45.85 points

NASDAQ Composite Index (QQQ): +0.19% or 15.5 points

Major earnings news today saw a slump in quarterly revenues and sales from Caterpillar (CAT  ). The American manufacturing company's CEO Jim Umpleby stated that "in the fourth quarter, we now expect end-user demand to be flat and dealers to make further inventory reductions due to global economic uncertainty." A growing number of companies have begun citing decreased global growth and tariff uncertainties as answers to why they are performing below what is expected. It seems that once the trade tariffs between China and the U.S. heighten in September major international companies began to suffer the consequences they did not know they were facing.

In other company news, Zuckerberg began his testimony today, with the hearing focused on the technology giant's cryptocurrency project Libra. In recent weeks, many founding members of the project including eBay (EBAY  ), Mastercard (MA  ), and PayPal (PYPL  ) have backed out of the project. Chairwoman Maxine Water stated that "Facebook's plan to create a digital currency, Libra, raise many concerns related to privacy, trading risks, national security, monetary policy, and the stability of the global financial system...It would be beneficial for all, if Facebook concentrates on addressing its many existing deficiencies and failures before proceeding any further on the Libra project." Lawmakers wanted to ensure that if Facebook is moving forward with a global currency that it would not be met with un-regulation and without regard to other Facebook scandals.

In Stock Sector news, many sectors have seen continued growth within the more positive market conditions. Top gainers include Energy +0.75%, Communication Services +0.64%, Health Care +0.63%, Consumer Staples +0.47%, Utilities +0.37%, Financials +0.36%, Real Estate +0.17%, and Information Technology +0.12%. The losers for the day include Consumer Discretionary -0.43% and Industrials -0.03%.

In Commodity news, West Texas Intermediate continues to increase today, with price per barrel soaring 3.08% to cost almost $56. Brent Crude saw a similar change, with prices rising 2.57% to rest at just over $61 per barrel. Gold on the other hand continues to face price droppings, with the precious metal slumping -0.16% to cost $1,492.10 per ounce.