Stocks called up after US Fed holds interest rates

29. Oct 2026

(AWP Alliance News) - European equities are called higher following the US Federal Reserve's decision to hold interest rates on Wednesday.

Oil prices fell back below USD110 per barrel after US Vice President JD Vance contacted Iran's security chief in a bid to revive peace talks.

Tensions remained in the Middle East, however, as Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi group continued to exchange missile attacks.

Here is what you need to know before the European market open on Thursday:

----------

MARKETS

----------

CAC 40: called up 14.7 points, 0.2%, at 7,901.66

DAX 40: called up 101.6 points, 0.4%, at 25,805.62

FTSE 100: called up 32.5 points, 0.3%, at 10,727.00

----------

Hang Seng: up 0.1% at 23,125.05

Nikkei 225: up 1.3% at 64,755.95

S&P/ASX 200: up 0.5% at 8,891.80

----------

DJIA: closed up 97.53 points, 0.2%, at 52,475.10

S&P 500: closed up 21.38 points, 0.3%, to 7,743.98

Nasdaq Composite: closed up 72.04 points, 0.3%, at 26,549.85

----------

US 10-year Treasury yield: 5.00% (5.03%)

US 30-year Treasury yield: 5.32% (5.33%)

----------

EUR: lower at USD1.1143 (USD1.1148)

GBP: higher at USD1.3319 (USD1.3310)

USD: lower at JPY157.88 (JPY158.23)

gold: higher at USD4,044.82 per ounce (USD4,039.18)

oil (Brent): lower at USD109.77 a barrel (USD116.37)

(changes since previous London equities close)

----------

ECONOMIC CALENDAR

----------

14:15 CET eurozone interest rate decision

14:45 CET eurozone ECB press conference

11:00 GMT Ireland GDP

10:00 CET Italy unemployment

12:00 CET Italy consumer confidence

08:00 SAST South Africa money supply

11:30 SAST South Africa PPI

09:00 CET Spain retail sales

12:00 CET Spain business confidence

09:30 GMT UK mortgage approvals

08:30 EDT US initial jobless claims

08:30 EDT US personal consumption expenditures

08:30 EDT US quarterly personal consumption expenditures

10:30 EDT US EIA natural gas stocks

----------

TOP ECONOMIC NEWS

----------

The US Federal Reserve kept interest rates on hold at its October meeting despite noting inflation remains "elevated". In a split vote, 10 of the 12 voting officials on the Federal Open Market Committee supported the status quo. Two officials, Lisa Cook and Beth Hammack, voted for a quarter point hike. The decision was as forecast by FXStreet consensus. A hold leaves the federal funds rate target range at 3.75-4.00%. The Fed elected to increase rates to that range in September, the first change in its benchmark rate since December 2025. In a brief statement, the FOMC said: "Inflation remains elevated. The accumulation of more information will help the committee determine the policy stance appropriate to ensure a timely return of inflation to the committee's 2 percent goal."

----------

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh reaffirmed his determination to ensure price stability as he looked to justify leaving interest rates unchanged despite the backdrop of accelerating inflation. Warsh told reporters it was the "right policy decision for this moment" and that the US central bank "will deliver price stability, no ifs, no buts". The Fed chair said the US central bank is "taking stock, evaluating what we are seeing out of the window and looking for clarity in [the] coming period." Questioned why the Fed didn't raise rates at this meeting given inflation remains well above its 2% remit, Warsh said the central bank will "figure out" an appropriate protocol to deliver price stability in the coming period. But he stressed the Fed has "made clear our readiness to act as circumstances require, and we have shown our willingness to act." The Fed chair reiterated "there's no soft inflation target," and reaffirmed 2% PCE as the aim.

----------

Vice President Vance has contacted Iran's security chief in a bid to revive peace talks that could head off a renewed American assault on the Islamic republic, the Wall Street Journal reported. Vance sent a letter to Mohsen Rezaei, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, the Journal reported, in a move that one of the newspaper's sources said was directed by US President Donald Trump. The letter - as well as subsequent talks between US and Iranian officials - focused on a possible framework for negotiations rather than specifics of a peace proposal, the Journal said. The war, which the US and Israel launched in late February, has severely disrupted energy shipments from Gulf countries, causing global economic fallout.

----------

Japanese consumer confidence stayed negative and weakened in October, official data showed. The consumer confidence index declined by 0.4 points to 35.0 points in October from 35.4 points in September, the Cabinet Offices reported. A score above 50 points is optimistic and a score below 50 points is considered pessimistic. The reading for October came in just below the FXStreet-cited consensus forecast of 35.1 points. The index is based on responses to a survey of 8,400 Japanese households conducted on October 15. Regarding price expectations for the year ahead, the Cabinet Office said 90.8% of respondents think prices will go up, reflecting an increase of 0.2% from September.

----------

Brazil's defeated right-wing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro arrived in Florida by private plane, defying a court order that banned him from leaving his country. Following swirling speculation over his whereabouts, the 45-year-old was seen disembarking the jet at Opa-Locka Executive Airport outside Miami, AFP witnessed, having flown via Argentina and Ecuador. Bolsonaro, who lost a runoff election to incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday, is under investigation in Brazil for alleged corruption and money laundering and, with his election loss, is set to lose parliamentary immunity. The plane - also carrying his wife and daughters - that landed in Florida had made a brief stop in Guayaquil, Ecuador in the early hours of Wednesday, AFP journalists saw. Bolsonaro had seemed likely to be the next president after he came out on top in the first round of elections, but Lula made a surprise surge to retain power.

----------

The EU has backed away from calling Canada a future "associate member" in a joint summit statement with Ottawa, after the wording raised hackles among its member states, diplomats said. Instead, the draft text circulated among the bloc's 27 countries ahead of the Friday summit in Montreal, vows to pursue "an ever-closer association of Canada to the EU, short of full membership itself".

----------

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed the hope that the EU will also take part in the talks with Russia and the US scheduled for November. "We hope to find a way to involve Europe," Zelensky said in The Hague, where he had met Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten. It is not yet known when and where the talks are to take place. Zelensky expects that this will not be discussed again until early November, following the mid-term elections in the US. The Netherlands has pledged EUR500 million (USD558 million) in military aid to Ukraine. This is intended primarily to help the country get through the coming winter, said Jetten. The prime minister added that the package also includes anti-aircraft guns and drones.

----------

Israel's president voiced hope for avoiding a second election after a hard-fought vote produced no clear winner, leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the opposition scrambling for options and making Israeli Arab parties possible kingmakers. With more than 85% of ballots counted, Netanyahu's right-wing bloc was slightly ahead but still short of a majority after Tuesday's election, the first since the October 7, 2023 attack that led Israel to wage war in Gaza and across the region. Both Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister who is allied with far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, and Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief leading a broad opposition bloc, said they would seek to form the next government. But neither looks set to reach the 61-seat threshold, with Netanyahu's bloc projected to win 53 of the 120 seats in parliament and Eisenkot's opposition set for 48. The final results could still change, but one group which made clear gains was Israeli Arabs, whose seats were set to jump to 19.

----------

Yemen's Houthis said Saudi strikes on a petrol station and a market killed more than a dozen people, while the Iran-backed group targeted the airport in government stronghold Aden, wounding several civilians. The Houthis last month launched a lightning offensive in Yemen, reigniting a long frozen civil war against the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government there. They have also launched sustained attacks on Saudi Arabia itself, the world's biggest crude exporter, rattling global markets already volatile from the wider Middle East war. Houthi broadcaster Almasirah reported 14 dead "and 15 wounded, including women and children in a preliminary toll", in attacks it blamed on Saudi Arabia in the northwestern Jawf province, where it reported strikes on a market and a petrol station.

----------

Australia's export prices increased during the third quarter of 2026, driven by gas exports, while import prices declined, official data showed. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the export price index rose 1.4% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter of 2026 after a 1.1% increase in the second quarter. The import price index fell to minus 1.1% from 5.5% in the previous quarter, well below the FXStreet-cited consensus of 1.8%. The indices measures the prices paid for imports of merchandise entering Australia each quarter and the prices received for exports. Export prices rose 6.3% against a year ago, while import prices were 5.5% higher.

----------

COMPANY CALENDAR

----------

Adidas AG - Q3 results

Air Liquide SA - Q3 results

Aixtron SE - Q3 results

Altria Group Inc - Q3 results

Amazon.com Inc - Q3 results

Ameriprise Financial Inc - Q3 results

Amplifon Spa - Q3 results

Amplifon Spa - EGM

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA - Q3 results

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co - Q3 results

Carlsberg AS - trading statement

Computacenter PLC - trading statement

Danske Bank - Q3 results

Draegerwerk AG & CO KGAA - Q3 results

Edinburgh Investment Trust PLC - ex-dividend date

Eli Lilly & Co - Q3 results

Fortescue Ltd - AGM

Glencore PLC - Q3 results

Haleon PLC - trading statement

IMI PLC - trading statement

ING Group NV - Q3 results

Intel Corp - Q3 results

Intercontinental Exchange Inc - Q3 results

Italgas Spa - Q3 results

Japan Tobacco Inc - Q3 results

Keppel Ltd - business update

Kion Group AG - Q3 results

Knorr-Bremse AG - Q3 results

Linde PLC - Q3 results

LLoyds Banking Group PLC - Q3 results

MasterCard Inc - Q3 results

Mediobanca Spa - AGM

Merck & Co Inc - Q3 results

MTU Aero Engines AG - Q3 results

Prysmian Spa - Q3 results

Puma SE - Q3 results

Redcare Pharmacy NV - Q3 results

Renishaw PLC - ex-dividend date

Repsol AG - Q3 results

Schneider Electric SE - Q3 results

Sirius XM Holdings Inc - Q3 results

Societe Generale SA - Q3 results

St James's Place PLC - Q3 results

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd - half year results

TotalEnergies SE - Q3 results

Volkswagen AG - Q3 results

Wacker Chemie AG - Q3 results

Woolworths Group Ltd - AGM

Xcel Energy Inc - Q3 results

----------

TOP COMPANY NEWS

----------

Microsoft saw its share climb after it reported an acceleration of growth in its Azure cloud business, and beat market forecasts on both the top and bottom line. The Redwood, Washington-based technology company net income rose 32% to USD36.63 billion in its first quarter to September 30 from USD27.75 billion a year ago. Diluted earnings per share improved to USD4.92 from USD3.72. Adjusted EPS of USD4.89 came in stronger than the USD4.73 LSEG consensus estimate. Revenue rose 19% to USD92.28 billion from USD77.67 billion, ahead of the USD90.69 billion consensus. Of this, revenue in Agents and Infra was USD76.8 billion, up 25%. The segment saw commercial remaining performance obligations increase 73% to USD677 billion; Microsoft Cloud revenue of USD63.9 billion, up 30%, or 31% in constant currency; and Azure revenue rise 48%.

----------

Alphabet reported below par third quarter sales, and operating income, as revenue from its Search business fell short of consensus. The Mountain View, California-based firm which owns Google, the world's leading search engine, and brands such as video-sharing platform YouTube, said net income fell to USD26.17 billion in the three months ended September 30 from USD31.23 billion the year prior. This included 'other expenses' of USD8.22 billion compared with 'other income' of USD12.76 billion the year prior. Diluted net income per share declined to USD2.12 from USD2.87, well below consensus of USD2.97. Operating income picked up 32% to USD40.58 billion from USD31.23 billion, below USD43.19 billion consensus, with operating margin of 32%, up from 31%. Revenue was up 25% to USD127.58 billion from USD102.35 billion, below consensus of USD127.68 billion.

----------

Oracle plans to be self-funding beginning in 2029, executives said at its investor day in Las Vegas. The Austin, Texas-based cloud computing infrastructure company expects to report revenue of USD225 billion or more in financial 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of over 35% from 2026. The company's financial year runs to March 31. It sees its non-GAAP operating margin rising to 40% and non-GAAP earnings per share of USD21. Oracle plans to achieve positive free cash flow during the second half of 2028, with FCF to reach USD30 billion in 2029.

----------

Airbus noted an "upward trajectory" amid rising revenue in the first nine months of the year. The Leiden, Netherlands-based aerospace company said revenue for the first nine months of the year rose 6.7% to EUR50.6 billion from EUR47.4 billion the year before. Consolidated earnings before interest and tax adjusted rose 8.4% to EUR4.5 billion from EUR4.1 billion the year before. Consolidated free cash flow before customer financing widened to negative EUR1.3 billion from negative EUR914 million the year before. The firm's Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury said that the European plane maker could join a UK-Japanese-Italian consortium to build a next generation fighter jet after the collapse of a Franco-German rival. The Airbus CEO told a media call that joining the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) with the UK, Japan and Italy was one a "potential" solution but there were others. The three countries have already allotted more than USD5.5 billion for the jet, aiming to have it in service by 2035.

----------

Samsung Electronics said sales surged in the third quarter of 2026. The Suwon, South Korea-based electronics and memory chip manufacturer posted sales of KRW195.3 trillion, around USD146.47 billion, for the third quarter ended September 30, more than doubling from KRW86.1 trillion a year ago. Against the second quarter, revenue rose 14% from KRW171.5 trillion. It said it saw continued strong demand for memory chips, driven by artificial intelligence applications. The firm said net profit increased to KRW75.1 trillion in the period, more than tripling from KRW21.2 trillion the year prior. It rose 4.9% from KRW71.6 trillion in the second quarter. Earnings per share multiplied to KRW11,462 from KRW1,802. EPS rose 5.7% from KRW10,849 in the second quarter.

----------

Ford Motor raised full-year guidance as it looked ahead to the "defining phase" of its transformation plan. The Dearborn, Michigan-based carmaker said revenue declined 2.0% to USD49.54 billion from USD50.53 billion in the September quarter. Revenue in the Automotive segment reached USD46.08 billion, below the USD46.24 billion LSEG consensus. Net income attributable to Ford fell 16% to USD2.05 billion from USD2.45 billion. Diluted earnings per share worsened to USD0.50 from USD0.60. Adjusted EPS of USD0.49 came in ahead of the USD0.40 consensus. "Ford delivered a strong quarter as we're entering a defining phase of the company's transformation with the launch of our universal electric vehicle platform, Ford Energy, an all-new F-150 and a new lineup of vehicles around the world over the next few years," said Chief Executive Jim Farley. In addition, our cost actions and record growth in software services and parts demonstrate how we're growing beyond the vehicle sale and moving us toward an 8% adjusted Ebit margin by 2029.

----------

T-Mobile US raised its profit outlook as it reported strong third quarter results. The Bellevue, Washington-based telecommunications company said net income increased 27% year-on-year in the three months to September 30 to USD3.5 billion. Diluted earnings per share jumped 34% to USD3.22. Total revenue increased 7.4% to USD23.58 billion from USD21.96 billion a year prior. Of this, total service revenue increased 6% to USD19.4 billion, and Postpaid service revenue increased 9% to USD16.3 billion. T-Mobile said postpaid net account additions dropped to 274,000 from 396,000. Postpaid average revenue per account rose to USD155.73 from USD149.44. "Q3 marked another strong quarter and is further proof that our winning formula of the best network, best value, and best experiences drives durable and profitable growth," said Chief Executive Srini Gopalan. Looking ahead, T-Mobile expects postpaid net account additions of 1.0 million, at the midpoint of the previous guide of 950,000 to 1.05 million. Core adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation is expected to be between USD37.35 billion and USD37.45 billion, up from prior guidance of USD37.1 billion to USD37.5 billion.

----------

KLA reported a rise in financial first quarter revenue as it hailed demand due to the artificial intelligence revolution. KLA is a Milpitas, California-based supplier of process control and yield management systems for the semiconductor industry. In its first quarter to September 30, KLA said net income rose to USD1.55 billion from USD1.12 billion a year ago. Diluted earnings per share improved to USD1.18 from USD0.85. Revenue climbed 29% to USD4.14 billion from USD3.21 billion. "KLA's September quarter beat the midpoint of guidance across all key metrics, demonstrating the accelerated growth we expected for the second half of calendar 2026," said Rick Wallace, president and CEO of KLA Corporation.

----------

Fortinet posted impressive revenue figures. In the three months to September 30, the Sunnyvale, California-based firm said revenue rose 21% to USD2.08 billion from USD1.72 billion a year earlier. Net income jumped 34% to USD635.5 million from USD473.9 million. Diluted earnings per share improved to USD0.86 from USD0.62. The company now sees annual bIllings of USD9.57 billion to USD9.72 billion, up from USD9.35 billion to USD9.55 billion before.

----------

O'Reilly Automotive posted higher profit for the third quarter of 2026 as it upped its full-year guidance. The Springfield, Missouri-based automotive parts retailer said net income in the third quarter ended September 30 increased, rising 8.2% to USD785.6 million from USD725.9 million a year ago. Sales rose 8.7% to USD5.12 billion from USD4.71 billion the year prior. Basic earnings per share increased 13% to USD0.97 per share from USD0.86 previously. CEO Brad Beckham, said: "Our impressive top-line growth, coupled with a USD39 million benefit from tariff refunds received during the third quarter, drove a 14% increase in our third quarter diluted earnings per share. We are extremely pleased with the continued ability of our Team to deliver industry-leading results through their hard work and unrelenting focus on our customers.

----------

By Harvey Dorset, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom [at] alliancenews.com