US stocks hit fresh records, Dow cracks 23,000 mark

Major US equity indices hit fresh record highs during the opening hour of trade on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rising above the psychologically important level of 23,000.

A series of upbeat quarterly earnings reports from top blue chip companies and renewed optimism over the US President Donald Trump's proposed tax cuts helped the market to extend its recent strong bullish run. 

Among individual movers, shares of IBM surged nearly 8% after the tech giant reported better-than-expected quarterly results late Tuesday. 

On the economic data front, a Commerce Department report showed US building permits fell to a one-year low in September, while housing starts fell 4.7% to an annual rate of 1.127 million units. Today's data suggested that housing market remained a key drag on economic growth during the third quarter.

At the time of reporting, DJIA was up over 115-points to 23,114, while the broader S&P 500 Index added around 3-points to 2,562. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index surrendered early gains and treaded water near yesterday's closing level of 6,624.