Stocks Rise Pre-Bell as Traders Await Meta, Tesla Earnings

07:12 AM EDT, 10/21/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The main US stock measures were moving higher in Wednesday's premarket activity as traders await the latest batch of corporate earnings, including results from technology giants Meta Platforms (META) and Tesla (TSLA). The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1% and the Nasdaq 100 added 0.5% before the opening bell. The Dow and S&P 500 finished Tuesday trading higher, while the Nasdaq Composite was virtually unchanged. Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram parent Meta and electric vehicle giant Tesla are scheduled to release their latest financial results after the markets close, along with Texas Instruments (TXN), IBM (IBM), CSX (CSX), United Rentals (URI) and Southwest Airlines (LUV). Philip Morris International (PM), Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO), Abbott Laboratories (ABT), AT&T (T), Danaher (DHR), Elevance Health (ELV) and Northern Trust (NTRS) post their quarterly earnings before the bell, among others. Shares of SpaceX (SPCX) spiked 8.8% pre-bell after the satellite and rocket company swung to third-quarter earnings year on year as revenue surged past Wall Street's expectations. Chief Executive Elon Musk, who is also head of Tesla, said during a late Tuesday conference call that both companies have formed special committees to discuss a potential merger. Netflix (NFLX) dropped 6.1% as the streaming giant issued a downbeat fourth-quarter outlook. United Airlines (UAL) edged down 0.9% after reporting its third-quarter results. Treasury yields were up early Wednesday, with the two- and 10-year rates increasing 0.8 basis points each to 4.8% and 5.13%, respectively. West Texas Intermediate crude oil gained 1.8% to $99.55 a barrel, while Brent inclined 1.4% to $110.32 a barrel. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said Tuesday that naval mines prevented three tankers from attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz using what it considers unauthorized routes, CNBC reported, citing the IRGC. Wednesday's economic calendar has the weekly mortgage applications bulletin, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's business inflation expectations survey for October and the weekly EIA domestic petroleum inventories report. Spot gold dipped 0.2% to $4,136 per troy ounce, while bitcoin nudged up 1% to $83,237.