Wall Street closed Wednesday’s session in positive territory, with the major indices posting modest gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.19% to 52,479.62 points, the S&P 500 gained 0.28% to 7,744.37 points, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.27% to 26,549.85 points.

The session was defined by the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates unchanged at its October meeting, in line with recent commentary from several members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), who had signalled a cautious approach to monetary policy even as the inflation indicator remains persistently above the 2% target.

The Fed’s benchmark interest rate was left within the range of 3.75% to 4%.

Among individual stocks, Oracle surged nearly 11%.

Microsoft edged down 0.06% and Alphabet advanced 1.34% ahead of their respective earnings releases after the close.

After markets shut, Alphabet — the parent company of Google — reported that net profit fell 25% to $26.17 billion in the third quarter, falling short of analyst expectations. The decline was attributed to elevated capital expenditure aimed at expanding cloud infrastructure and funding artificial intelligence research. Alphabet shares were down 8% in after-hours trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Microsoft, meanwhile, posted revenues of $92.28 billion in its first fiscal quarter, topping the $90.6 billion analysts had forecast, according to Reuters. Operating income came in at $45.9 billion, above the $43.9 billion projected.

In commodity markets, Brent crude for December delivery settled up 1.26% at $115.32 per barrel on the London futures market, driven by investor concerns over a potential escalation in tensions involving Iran.

West Texas Intermediate crude on the NYMEX fell 0.77% to $101.99 per barrel.