Screens display the Fed rate announcement as traders work on the floor of the NYSE in New York, the United States, October 28, 2026.
Jeenah Moon | Reuters
U.S. stock futures fell Wednesday evening as investors digested the latest round of hyperscaler earnings.
Nasdaq-100 Futures Contracts lost 1.2%. S&P 500 Futures Contracts decreased by 0.5%.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained more than 0.49% while the Topix slipped 0.16%. THE Kospi fell 2.44%, while the small-cap Kosdaq fell 3.43%. The Australian reference S&P/ASX200 was 0.34% higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.24%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 0.64%.
In exchanges outside normal hours, Microsoft rose 3% after growth in the software giant’s Azure cloud infrastructure business helped it post top and bottom line results in the fiscal first quarter, according to LSEG.
This contrasts sharply with Alphabet’The 9% decline after adjusted earnings per share and revenue fell short of expectations in the third quarter, and the company reported negative free cash flow of $9.07 billion. The company maintained its full-year capital spending guidance at $195 billion to $205 billion.
The findings come at a time when the artificial intelligence business is the center of attention. AI stocks, such as iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) and the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM)went through a difficult period for most of October, only to pull themselves together in recent days.
The chips helped propel the broader market to a winning regular session on Wednesday, with the S&P500 up for a third consecutive day while Micronic technology jumped almost 6% and Broadcom added more than 2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also posted a gain, rising 0.3%.
Earlier Wednesday, the Federal Reserve decided to maintain its key interest rates, leaving its benchmark interest rate in a range between 3.75% and 4%. This decision to maintain it was widely expected since the Federal Open Market Committee announced an increase of a quarter of a percentage point in September.
This time, central bank policymakers stressed that inflation “remains elevated” but also said they were waiting for “the accumulation of more information” before taking further action.
The Fed’s move “can be interpreted as slightly dovish, but we think it is better seen as an expression of patience rather than a move away from a tightening bias,” said Daniel Siluk, head of global short duration and liquidity at Janus Henderson Investors. “The door remains open to further tightening, but the Committee appears prepared to await available data to validate the need for further action.”
Traders will get a deeper look at the economy on Thursday, when the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index report for September is released. PCE is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation indicator. The first reading of third-quarter GDP and weekly jobless claims are also expected.
On the earnings side, all eyes will be on the quarterly reports from Caterpillar and Eli Lilly in the morning, followed by Amazon and Intel after the market close.
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