Stocks settled near a flatline on Wednesday, but all three major averages are still on track to post their biggest monthly gains of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added nearly 15 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite lost nearly 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -0.09% or -4.31 points to 4,550.58
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.04% or +13.44 points to 35,430.42
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -0.16% or -23.27 points to 14,258.49
As the month nears its end, the S&P 500 and Dow are up 8.5% and 7.2%, respectively, while the Nasdaq has advanced nearly 11% so far in November.
Making headlines on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book report showed that U.S. economic activity has broadly slowed over the past six week, while labor demand waned and price increases eased. Notably, the report said consumers demonstrated more "price sensitivity."
In economic news, third-quarter U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 5.2% at an annualized rate, according to the Commerce Department's report Wednesday, coming above the initial estimates of 4.9%. This is the second of three readings for the key economic indicator.
In single-stock news, General Motors (NYSE: GM) shares rose on Wednesday after the carmaker announced a $10 billion buyback and raised its quarterly dividend by 33% to $0.12 per share next year. The company also reinstated its 2023 guidance to include an estimated $1.1 billion in earnings before interest and tax.
GM CEO Mary Barra said in a statement that the company is preparing a budget for next year that will "fully offset the incremental costs of our new labor agreements," with the United Auto Workers union. That plan includes "reducing the capital intensity of the business, developing products even more efficiently, and further reducing," the company's fixed and variable costs.
On the earnings front, NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) shares popped on Wednesday after the data infrastructure company posted better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings. The company also issued a higher-than-expected forward earnings forecast.
Looking ahead, market participants will react to October's PCE index reading de out Thursday morning, as well as earnings reports from Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW, and Okta (NASDAQ: OKTA).