Il Nuovo Postiglione - Tesla helps drive stocks mostly higher

Tesla shares surged over 16 percent at the start of trading after the company led by Elon Musk reported third-quarter profits of $2.2 billion, up 17 percent from the year-ago period on an eight-percent increase in revenues to $25.2 billion.

The results broke a string of recent Tesla earnings that have seen the high-flying company report lower profits year-over-year as competition intensifies among automakers.

The outspoken Musk offered a bullish outlook on Tesla's prospects, pointing to the strong results as evidence the company's ambitious vision is being realized.

Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite climbed at the start of trading, while the Dow dipped.

"For now, the excitement over Tesla's report and outlook seems to be doing most of the driving," said market analyst Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com.

European indices were higher in afternoon trading, with investors anticipating interest rate cuts.

Major Asian indices closed mixed after sizeable losses on Wall Street Wednesday, with US Treasury yields climbing on concerns that inflation risked rising again.

Oil prices rose as the crude market continued to experience volatile trading.

"Higher oil prices and some good corporate results helped UK stocks to strong gains," noted AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index features oil giants BP and Shell.

In Paris, shares advanced in luxury goods group Hermes thanks to rising sales and amid hopes of a pickup in demand as China stimulates its economy.

With the US presidential election still seen as a coin toss less than two weeks out, there was plenty of uncertainty on trading floors, though observers said dealers were eyeing a win for Donald Trump and policies such as tax cuts that could stoke inflation again.

That, along with a strong run of US economic data and remarks from Federal Reserve officials backing a cautious approach to easing monetary policy, has seen expectations for rate cuts whittled back.

Traders had previously been confident that the central bank would follow up last month's bumper 50-basis-point cut with another at its November meeting and a smaller one in December.

But those expectations have diminished, as seen with Treasury yields rising.

The situation would appear different in Europe, where analysts are betting on the possibility of bumper rate cuts in the eurozone and Britain.

This after Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said UK inflation was falling quicker than it had expected, and as eurozone economic data continues to weaken.

Business activity in the single currency bloc ticked lower for the second consecutive month in October, a closely watched survey showed Thursday.

The HCOB Flash Eurozone purchasing managers' index published by S&P Global registered a figure of 49.7 compared to 49.6 in September.

Any reading above 50 indicates growth, while a figure below 50 shows contraction.

The latest PMI data for Britain on Thursday showed its "economy struggled" at the start of the fourth quarter, said Kathleen Brooks, research director at traders XTB.

- Key figures around 1330 GMT -

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 42,415.11 points

New York - S&P: UP 0.3 percent at 5,813.01

New York - Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 18,381.22

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 8,307.59

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 7,557.24

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.9 at 19,549.40

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.1 percent at 38,143.29 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.3 percent at 20,489.62 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.7 percent at 3,280.26 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0805 from $1.0787 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2980 from $1.2929

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 152.17 yen from 152.65 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.24 pence from 83.41 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.7 percent at $75.51 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.8 percent at $71.31 per barrel

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R.Accetta--INP