U.S. stocks finished mostly higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 barely eking out a gain, after October's consumer-price index came in cooler than some market participants had expected. The Dow closed up by 47.

U.S. stocks are drifting near their records after the latest inflation update boosted hopes that more help for the economy will arrive next month from another cut to interest rates. The S&P 500 was up 0.