Before the Bell
The Federal Reserve announces its rate decision at 2:00 p.m. Eastern, and Microsoft and Alphabet report after the close. Futures are split ahead of both. Nasdaq 100 futures are up +0.44% on another round of chip-sector strength, S&P 500 futures are up +0.18%, and Dow futures are down -0.14%. Oil is the complication: WTI crude is up about +1.8% to near $101.70 and Brent to about $111.40, after the Wall Street Journal reported the US has warned Gulf allies that a renewed, more intense phase of the Iran conflict could follow next week's midterm elections. Higher oil feeds the inflation picture the Fed is weighing.
Tuesday's session set this up. The S&P 500 rose +0.60% to 7,722.60, the Nasdaq Composite gained +1.18% to 26,477.81, and the Dow added +0.03% to 52,377.57. Broadcom rose about +4% after a $63 billion bank-led financing deal for its AI chips to be leased to Anthropic, while Boeing fell about -10.7% after saying it will miss its original 2026 737 delivery target. Overnight, Tokyo's Nikkei gained about +1.1% and Seoul rallied behind record SK Hynix results, while Germany's DAX and London's FTSE 100 were slightly lower.