Markets Before the Open: Fed Decision Day as Chips Lift Nasdaq, Boeing Falls (Oct 28, 2026)

Wall Street’s gains on Tuesday were narrow but tech-led: the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.18% and the S&P 500 0.60%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed only +0.03% as Boeing fell about 10.7% after its quarterly results. In Europe the FTSE 100 lost 0.75% as HSBC’s revenue miss hit banks, while the DAX rose 0.71%. This note covers Tuesday’s close, the overnight session in Asia and what is scheduled today, October 28, 2026: the Federal Reserve’s rate decision at 2:00 p.m. ET (18:00 UTC), the Bank of Canada decision, and Alphabet and Microsoft results after the close. Data cut-off: 07:45 UTC on Wednesday (09:45 in Bucharest). The overnight Asia and morning quotes below come from an AP report published at about 04:00 UTC and a finanzen.ch summary stamped 06:38 (time zone not stated), so they will be stale by the time you read this.

Tuesday, October 27: how the main indices closed

Sources: the four US closes match across Cappnotes (page updated October 27, 2026, 23:10 UTC), TheStreet (market wrap, 4:19 p.m. EDT), Investrade (October 27, 2026, 20:07 UTC) and HDFC Sky (October 28, 2026, 08:45 IST). One outlet, 24/7 Wall St, showed different figures (S&P 500 at 7,732, +0.72%) that conflict with those four and with its own ticker, so I did not use them. The FTSE 100 close and the 0.75% fall are confirmed by MarketScreener; the STOXX 600, DAX and CAC 40 levels come from Cappnotes alone, but their moves match the rounded closing summary in finanzen.ch (page dated October 28, 2026, 06:38) (STOXX 600 +0.5%, DAX +0.7%, CAC 40 +0.5%, FTSE 100 -0.8%) and are consistent with Monday’s closes in our previous edition. An earlier IndexBox report showing the STOXX 600 down 0.43% gives no time and looks like a mid-session reading; it disagrees with the closing figures. The Nikkei close is from Cappnotes, and AP’s figure for the previous day matches it. These are market-data summaries, not exchange files, so the last decimal may differ from the official close.

Rates, oil, gold and currencies

Sources: Tuesday figures from Cappnotes, Investrade and HDFC Sky; morning figures from AP (published about 04:00 UTC) and finanzen.ch. The two Brent morning rows are not like for like: the December contract settled at $113.88, and AP’s quote sits about $4 lower, which looks like a different contract month, but AP does not say. Sources also differ slightly on yields and gold (spot versus futures), so compare only within a row. Market-data summaries, not exchange settlements.

What moved markets on Tuesday

AI and chips. Chips led again. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 3.60% to 11,482.51, its third straight gain, with AMD up 5.45% and Broadcom up 4.00% (Cappnotes). Broadcom announced a $63 billion financing arrangement that helps Anthropic buy its chip and networking products (AP). Cappnotes also reports that Anthropic’s registration filing lists a planned Nasdaq debut under the ticker ANT, with a reported valuation target of $1.5 to $2 trillion and no price range or date; I have not seen the filing, so treat that as a press report. AP noted that most S&P 500 stocks fell on the day and that gains in a few influential AI names lifted the index, which ended within 1.2% of its record high.

Boeing and the earnings tape. Boeing reported third-quarter revenue of $24.2 billion, up 4% from $23.3 billion a year earlier, and a GAAP loss of $0.26 per share against a $7.14 loss in the third quarter of 2025; the non-GAAP core loss was $0.34 per share ($7.47 a year earlier). Operating cash flow was $1.5 billion, free cash flow $0.5 billion and backlog a record $745 billion (Boeing results release, filed with the SEC). Shares fell about 10.7%, and AP called the loss larger than expected; our Tuesday note cited consensus of -$0.20 to -$0.25 per share. According to Cappnotes (I have not checked these company releases), UPS rose 5.75% after beating estimates and raising its full-year guidance, Coca-Cola fell 1.64% despite a beat and a raised outlook, PayPal rose 2.00% despite a revenue miss, and Visa fell 1.96% after hours with fiscal fourth-quarter EPS of $3.48 against about $3.44 expected (Newsquawk estimate cited in our Tuesday note). For background on Coca-Cola, see our earnings preview.

US data and Treasuries. Conference Board consumer confidence rose to 91.7 in October against expectations of about 80.4 to 81.0, durable goods orders rose 1.8% in September against +1.7% expected, and new home sales came in at 676,000 against 653,000 expected (Cappnotes; Investrade for the confidence consensus). The Treasury sold $70 billion of five-year notes after Monday’s $69 billion two-year sale; Cappnotes gives no auction details. The 10-year yield ended the day near 4.99%.

Oil and the Gulf. Energy was the worst S&P 500 sector (-2.05%) as crude fell for a second day on hopes for Middle East talks: Brent’s December contract settled at $113.88 (-1.67%) and WTI at $99.90 (-1.83%) (Cappnotes; Investrade; HDFC Sky). Per Cappnotes, Iranian officials met counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan in Tehran and agreed to keep talking, while Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery kept supply risks alive. These are press reports that I have not independently confirmed. This morning Brent is higher again (see the table above).

Europe. The FTSE 100 closed at 10,686.54, down 0.75% and its biggest one-day fall in about a month. HSBC dropped 5.4% to its lowest in nearly six months after third-quarter revenue of $18.6 billion missed analysts’ $19 billion estimate, which the report ties to a slowdown in its wealth business (MarketScreener); I have not seen the bank’s statement. The FTSE 250 rose 0.93%. On the continent the DAX gained 0.71%, the CAC 40 0.51% and the STOXX 600 0.47% (Cappnotes; finanzen.ch).

The Fed. The FOMC opened a two-day meeting and a hold is widely expected. Kiplinger cites roughly 90% odds of no change from CME FedWatch, while Investrade reports an 83% chance of a December hike, so attention is on any signal about the next step. Those are market-implied probabilities, not a forecast by this site.

Overnight in Asia

Asian markets mostly rose, led by chips again. Per AP (about 04:00 UTC), in early trading South Korea’s Kospi was up 5.6% at 5,952.41, with SK Hynix up 7% after reporting a record quarterly operating profit and Samsung Electronics up 8.5% ahead of its results on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 1.3% at 64,094.51, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng down 0.7% at 23,041.32, the Shanghai Composite up 0.5% at 3,666.50, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 up 0.4% at 8,889.10 and Taiwan’s Taiex up 1.8%. Kioxia rose 9.6% before its Friday report. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand unexpectedly held its rate at 2.75% (AP). A later finanzen.ch summary reports the Kospi up more than 6% and the Nikkei up about 1% on the day. These are early-trading readings, not closes. US futures were mixed to slightly lower (AP: edged lower; finanzen.ch: mixed), and European stocks were expected to open lower (finanzen.ch).

Wednesday, October 28: what is scheduled

Sources: times and consensus from Investing.com (October 27, 2026), whose listed times sit one hour earlier than the usual Eastern-time schedule (I converted them and checked the 8:30 and 2:00 p.m. items against Kiplinger); Bank of Canada and Fed background from FinancialJuice (October 23, 2026) and Kiplinger; Alphabet consensus from PrimeXBT (October 20, 2026), which cites MarketBeat and Investing.com and shows two sets of figures, and the Alphabet and Microsoft call times from Shattered and Tech Insider; I did not find the companies’ own announcements, so check their investor-relations pages. The EIA time is the usual Wednesday 10:30 a.m. ET release after the one-hour conversion. Consensus figures vary by provider and release times can change. The only item in the table already out at the cut-off was the New Zealand decision.

With the Fed decision at 2:00 p.m. ET, the focus is the statement and Chair Warsh’s press conference half an hour later, any further oil headlines from the Gulf, and the Alphabet and Microsoft results after the close.

The rest of the week

On Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET the first estimate of third-quarter US GDP and September PCE inflation are due; the previous readings were GDP growth of 2.2% annualised in the second quarter, headline PCE up 0.3% on the month and 3.4% on the year in August, and core PCE up 0.2% and 3.0% (FinancialJuice). Amazon reports on Thursday and Samsung Electronics also reports that day (AP); our earnings previews cover Merck, Mondelez and Altria, all on October 29. The ECB and the Bank of Japan also decide this week (finanzen.ch); our Tuesday note, citing AP and FinancialJuice, put the ECB on Thursday and the Bank of Japan on Friday. Earnings dates can change, so confirm them with each company. The Fed’s target range was raised to 3-3/4 to 4 percent on September 16, 2026; the meeting calendar is on the Federal Reserve website.

For yesterday’s closing levels, see our Tuesday edition.

Sources

• Federal Reserve: FOMC meeting calendar
• Federal Reserve: FOMC statement (September 16, 2026)
• Boeing: third-quarter 2026 results release (Form 8-K exhibit, SEC)
• Market-data summaries and news, not primary sources: Cappnotes (October 27, 2026); TheStreet (October 27, 2026); Investrade (October 27, 2026); HDFC Sky (October 28, 2026); 24/7 Wall St (October 27, 2026; figures conflict, not used); MarketScreener (October 27, 2026); finanzen.ch (October 28, 2026); AP via News4Jax (October 28, 2026); Kiplinger Fed live blog (October 27, 2026); Kiplinger weekly calendar; Investing.com calendar (October 27, 2026); FinancialJuice week ahead (October 23, 2026); PrimeXBT Alphabet earnings date (October 20, 2026); Shattered (October 24, 2026); Tech Insider (October 28, 2026)

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Figures come from the sources listed, as of the times stated, and may be revised. Market-data summaries can differ slightly from official exchange figures. Confirm current prices with your broker. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of capital.