Futures tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, as investors reacted to strong earnings from South Korean memory-chip manufacturer SK Hynix. The market gains preceded an interest-rate decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve and quarterly reports from technology firms Microsoft and Alphabet.
The market activity follows a period of volatility in the first half of October. Sentiment regarding artificial intelligence (AI) trade recently shifted after Anthropic disclosed its U.S. initial public offering (IPO) filing on Monday, October 26. As of Wednesday morning, the Nasdaq had gained approximately 2% for the week.
SK Hynix reported a more than sevenfold jump in quarterly profit, leading its U.S.-listed shares to rise 8.5%. The company stated that capacity for certain high-demand products is nearly sold out for the next three years. This result influenced other semiconductor stocks: Micron Technology rose 4.2% in premarket trading, Nvidia gained 0.8%, and AMD increased 1.8%. Digital infrastructure provider Vertiv jumped 15.3% after raising its full-year forecasts. Conversely, Seagate Technology fell 1.5% following its results, and Robinhood Markets dropped 7.2% after missing profit estimates.
The Federal Reserve's decision, scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, October 28, directly impacts borrowing costs. While consensus leans toward a pause in rate hikes, LSEG data shows traders anticipate at least three 25-basis-point increases by late 2027. This expectation is driven by high inflation linked to rising energy costs from Middle East conflicts. A basis point is a unit of measure for interest rates equal to 1/100th of one percent. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields have recently edged above 5%.
Looking ahead, the U.S. government is scheduled to release several key economic indicators this week. On Thursday, October 29, the September Personal Consumption Expenditures report—the Federal Reserve's primary inflation metric—will be published. Additionally, third-quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data is expected this week, with forecasts predicting 3.2% growth. Amazon and Intel are also scheduled to report their quarterly earnings later in the week.