Wall Street braces for big week: Fed decision plus Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon results

Data as of: Closing prices Friday 23 October 2026; weekend – no trading. Weekly change 16–23 Oct and preview of 26–30 Oct; as of Sunday 25 October, about 07:30 CET

Starting point: on Friday, 23 October, the Dow Jones (30 big US companies) closed at 52,215.16 points (−1.23%), the S&P 500 (the 500 largest firms) at 7,623.68 (−0.52%) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite at 25,955.34 (−0.21%). For the week the Dow rose 0.4%, the S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq 0.7%. Brent crude climbed to $116.72 a barrel (AP, Reuters).

On Wednesday, 28 October, the Fed (the US central bank) announces its rate decision at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time (19:00 in Berlin), followed by a press conference with Chair Kevin Warsh. In September the Fed raised rates for the first time since 2023. Reuters reports that futures (contracts on future prices) imply only about a 5% chance of another hike on Wednesday, but about 80% for December. US daylight saving time lasts until 1 November, so the gap to Berlin is five hours this week.

About a third of S&P 500 companies report this week, the busiest of the season (Reuters). Alphabet and Microsoft report on Wednesday evening, Amazon, Intel and Sandisk on Thursday evening, and Exxon and Chevron on Friday morning. Before that come Boeing, Coca-Cola and Visa (Tuesday) and Eli Lilly, Mastercard and Caterpillar (Thursday). Meta already reported on 21 October; Apple follows on 2 November. LSEG expects S&P 500 third-quarter profits to rise more than 32% (Stock Titan, Reuters).

Data: consumer confidence and durable goods orders on Tuesday; on Thursday the first estimate of third-quarter growth (GDP) and consumer spending with the PCE price index, the inflation gauge the Fed watches. US midterm elections are on 3 November. Over the weekend the Middle East stayed tense: on Saturday the Houthis reported air strikes on Sanaa and blamed Saudi Arabia (dpa-AFX).