Nasdaq Gains 0.98% as Oil Falls, Investors Await Fed Decision and Tech Earnings
Key Facts
U.S. stocks advanced in trading on Tuesday, October 27, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.11% at 52,419.30, the S&P 500 up 0.55% at 7,718.86 and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.98% at 26,425.66, as of 11:35 a.m. New York time. The move came as oil prices fell, supporting risk appetite ahead of the Federal Reserve decision expected this week. Reuters said investors were also watching upcoming corporate earnings. Available trading data do not confirm that the market closed higher; they track the indexes' performance mid-session. Market attention is therefore focused on what the coming hours may bring in monetary policy and results from major companies.
Semiconductor stocks stood out among advancing sectors, with the index rising 1.8% in Tuesday trading for a third consecutive day of gains, Reuters reported. The move comes as investors await results from Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon during the week. Investors are watching whether large investments in artificial intelligence will translate into growth at these companies. That anticipation makes their results an important event for technology and chip-related stocks in the coming days. Reuters noted that earnings from the three companies and the Fed decision were among the factors markets were tracking.
U.S. crude futures fell 1.6% to $100.14 a barrel, while Brent crude declined 1.68% to $113.86 in Tuesday trading. Reuters linked the drop in oil to improved risk appetite ahead of the Fed meeting. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury yields edged higher as investors weighed the interest rate outlook against Wednesday's expected decision. This placed moves in stocks, commodities and bonds in the context of a reassessment of monetary policy expectations. Markets are also watching meetings of the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan during the week, with economists expecting all three central banks to leave interest rates unchanged, Reuters reported.
New orders for manufactured durable goods rose by $6.3 billion, or 1.8%, to $345.4 billion in September, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Orders excluding transportation equipment increased 0.5%, while orders excluding defense rose 2.2%. Transportation equipment led the increase, with orders rising 4.6% to $119.8 billion, the bureau said. The core reading excluding transportation offers a view of demand after that component is removed, while the published figures show that transportation equipment was the largest contributor to the overall increase. The bureau is scheduled to publish the full September report on shipments, inventories and orders on November 3.
In a separate reading of household confidence, the U.S. consumer confidence index rose 7.5 points to 91.7 in October, from 84.2 in September, according to the Conference Board. The board attributed the improvement mainly to consumers' more favorable assessments of current and expected business conditions, and said lower gasoline prices from September to October contributed to the recovery. The present situation index rose 8.6 points to 120.4, while the expectations index increased 6.9 points to 72.6. But the board said consumers planned to spend less on services and durable goods over the next six months. It said this could reflect higher prices, persistent inflation and eroding purchasing power, putting the improvement in the index alongside caution in spending plans.
The Federal Open Market Committee meeting runs on October 27 and 28, with its statement and decision due Wednesday, October 28, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, followed by a news conference at 2:30 p.m., according to the Federal Reserve's schedule. The market broadly expected rates to remain unchanged at Wednesday's meeting, while markets were pricing in the possibility of at least two further increases by mid-2027, Reuters reported. At its September decision, the Federal Reserve raised its target range for the federal funds rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.75%-4.00%. The committee's next meeting is listed for December 8 and 9. Upcoming technology company results during the week add to the events investors are tracking after Wednesday's decision.