Spain’s IBEX Falls 1.1% as Fed Decision and Tech Earnings Loom

Key Facts

European stocks fell at the open on Wednesday, October 28, with Spain’s IBEX leading losses at 1.1%, according to an investingLive coverage summary. The Euro Stoxx, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 each fell 0.1%, while Britain’s FTSE dropped 0.3% and Italy’s FTSE MIB fell 0.2%. The moves came on the day of the Federal Reserve’s decision, after Euro Stoxx 50 futures edged down 0.03% before European markets opened, according to Reuters via Euronext. In Spain, EL7 data showed the IBEX closed at 19,160.6 points on October 27, before the next opening session. Markets were also awaiting results from Microsoft and Alphabet scheduled for Wednesday, putting the Fed meeting and big tech earnings at the center of trading.

The moves followed pressure on the banking sector in the previous European session. The STOXX 600 banking index fell 1.3% on October 27, and HSBC shares dropped 7% after the bank reported revenue below expectations, according to Reuters via Euronext. Markets entered Wednesday tracking the previous session’s bank results, monetary-policy meetings and technology-company earnings at the same time. Investors were awaiting decisions from the Fed, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan during the week, while economists expected all three banks to leave interest rates unchanged, with attention focused on their comments about the outlook, according to Reuters. The lineup shows that markets were not focused solely on the United States, although the Fed decision was a key event that day.

The Federal Open Market Committee meeting began on October 27 and lasted two days, with October 28 set as the scheduled decision date, according to the Fed calendar. The Associated Press expected policymakers to leave the benchmark interest rate unchanged at the end of Wednesday’s meeting, while investors watched the statement for signals on next steps and the inflation outlook. The agency estimated the current rate at about 3.9% and said investors saw virtually no chance of a rate increase at that meeting. The statement’s wording matters because holding rates steady, according to the expectations cited by the agency, does not by itself settle the direction of policy at subsequent meetings. The market’s focus was therefore on what officials might say about inflation and future decisions, alongside the rate decision itself.

Inflation remains behind this anticipation. The Associated Press said it had come in higher than expected in the previous month and had not reached the Fed’s 2% target for a full calendar quarter since the final quarter of 2020. The agency also said inflation in each of the last two months was higher than most economists had expected. According to its report, some economists believe that if the Fed chair again affirms a commitment to bringing inflation back to 2%, that could be taken as a signal that a rate hike is possible at the December meeting. That gives the chair’s comments particular significance for investors seeking clues about the outlook after the October meeting, as the Fed decision coincides with results from major companies. The committee’s next meeting is on December 8 and 9, according to the Fed’s official calendar.

On the corporate front, Microsoft confirmed that results for the first quarter of its 2027 fiscal year would be released on October 28, while the Associated Press said Alphabet, Google’s parent company, would report results on the same Wednesday. Microsoft shares closed at 531.33 and Alphabet at 320.58 on October 27, according to EL7 data, which did not specify the currency for either price. Santander shares also closed at 12.47 on the same date, with no currency specified. The available data do not establish that Santander shares caused the IBEX’s decline at the open, so the index move cannot be attributed to the stock. Microsoft’s investor-page archive showed an announcement dated October 7 about the results release date, and also listed quarterly results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026 dated July 29; the company’s latest confirmed results date is October 28.