• Indexes up: Dow 0.31%, S&P 500 0.58%, Nasdaq 0.89%
• White House confirms Trump-Xi meeting as part of next week's Asia trip
• IBM slumps on cloud slowdown
• Crude jumps, energy stocks rise after US sanctions Russian oil
• Quantum computing firms gain on report of US govt stake talks

NEW YORK, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street advanced on Thursday as investors mulled a mixed batch of corporate earnings and shifting geopolitical concerns.

All three major U.S. stock indexes closed higher, with tech strength nudging the Nasdaq into the lead. But the small-cap Russell 2000 (.RUT) , opens new tab was the clear outperformer.

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The indexes gained some momentum after the White House confirmed U.S. President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping next week as part of his trip through Asia.

Trade tensions between Washington and Beijing have been escalating in recent days, marked by tit-for-tat retaliatory measures announced by both sides. Confirmation that the two leaders would meet next week appeared to ease those tensions.

Trump announced sanctions against Russian oil companies, marking a sharp policy shift in ramping up the pressure on Moscow over its war against Ukraine, ratcheting up geopolitical strife and sending world oil prices jumping.

"The Trump-Xi confirmation is clearly positive," said Zachary Hill, head of portfolio management at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina. "That's a good checkpoint for sentiment, which has been really up-and-down on trade and that's obviously playing a role today."

"Additionally, earnings have been really strong in general," Hill added. "And that's supporting the market from a fundamental perspective."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab rose 144.20 points, or 0.31%, to 46,734.61, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab gained 39.03 points, or 0.58%, to 6,738.43 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab gained 201.40 points, or 0.89%, to 22,941.80.

Third-quarter reporting season has hit full stride.

Tesla shares (TSLA.O) , opens new tab rebounded, gaining 2.3% following its third-quarter profit miss. The electric-vehicle maker was the first of the "Magnificent Seven" group of megacap momentum stocks that account for more than a third of the S&P 500's market cap.

IBM (IBM.N) , opens new tab dropped 0.9% after reporting a slowdown in its key cloud software segment, eclipsing its earnings beat.

So far, just over a quarter of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported third-quarter results. Of those, 86% have beaten consensus expectations, according to LSEG data.

In aggregate, analysts currently expect S&P 500 third-quarter earnings growth of 9.9% year-on-year, up from their 8.8% growth estimate as of October 1, per LSEG.

In other earnings, health insurer Molina Healthcare (MOH.N) , opens new tab plunged 17.5% after slashing its annual profit forecast.

Honeywell (HON.O) , opens new tab raised its annual profit forecast on strong aerospace demand, sending its shares up 6.8%.

American Airlines (AAL.O) , opens new tab shares advanced 5.6% after the carrier raised its annual profit forecast, while Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) , opens new tab slipped 6.3% despite posting a surprise quarterly profit and record current-quarter sales.

T-Mobile (TMUS.O) , opens new tab dipped 3.3% even after the telecom's wireless subscriber adds surpassed analyst expectations.

Dow (DOW.N) , opens new tab reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss as cost cuts and higher volumes helped offset weakness in chemical prices. Its stock jumped 13.0%.

Quantum computing firms jumped after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration was in talks with several of them to take equity stakes in exchange for federal funding.

IonQ (IONQ.N) , opens new tab, D-Wave Quantum (QBTS.N) , opens new tab, Quantum Computing (QUBT.O) , opens new tab and Rigetti Computing (RGTI.O) , opens new tab added between 7.1% and 13.8%.

Energy companies (.SPNY) , opens new tab, buoyed by spiking crude prices in the wake of Trump's sanctions on Russian oil, enjoyed the biggest percentage gain among the 11 main sectors of the S&P 500, rising 1.3%. Oil majors Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) , opens new tab and Chevron (CVX.N) , opens new tab advanced 1.1% and 0.6%, respectively.

Independent oil refiner Valero Energy (VLO.N) , opens new tab, which reported better-than-expected third-quarter profits, rose 7.0%.

Rising geopolitical turmoil has benefited aerospace and defense stocks over the past year. The S&P 500 Aerospace and Defense index (.SPCOMAED) , opens new tab advanced 2.2%.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.05-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 259 new highs and 55 new lows on the NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, 3,009 stocks rose and 1,618 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.86-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 70 new highs and 75 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 19.07 billion shares, compared with the 20.62 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

https://www.reuters.com/business/wall-street-futures-subdued-after-tesla-ibm-results-2025-10-23/