S&P 500, Nasdaq extend gains for second straight session ahead of Fed decision, big tech results

Shares of semiconductor and chip manufacturers led gains on Wall Street on Tuesday, October 28, ensuring that the indices ended the session with strong gains for the second straight day.

The Dow Jones ended at the flat line, weighed down by shares of Boeing, which fell 11% to an 18-month low after cutting back on full-year aircraft delivery targets. On the flip side, the S&P 500 gained 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite outperformed its peers, ending 1.2% higher.

Gains on the Nasdaq and S&P 500 were led by Broadcom, which gained as much as 4% after a consortium of banks led by Bank of America, Citi and Morgan Stanley, announced $63 billion in financing to purchase Broadcom's technology for Anthropic. In light of Broadcom's surge, other chipmakers such as AMD and Micron also gained between 3% to 5%.

Meta Platforms continued to keep gains in check, declining 1.6%, despite its $25 billion share sale receiving 5x the overall subscription. The stock had declined nearly 2% on Monday as well.

Crude oil prices continued to trade in the $113 to $116 a barrel range, cooling off from early highs after Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamanei discussed conditions with Iran's National Security Chief Mohsen Rezaee to end the ongoing war, according to a telegram message. Iran has earlier spoken of lifting of the naval blockade and lifting of sanctions as pre-conditions for talks with the US.

The Big Wall Street Trigger Tonight

The market tonight will be watching out for the interest rate decision by the US Federal Reserve, which is most likely to retain rates at current levels. The CME FedWatch tool is projecting a 94% probability of a status quo policy.

However, analysts believe that messaging and commentary from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh will be important to note as to whether or not the central bank will hike rates or not in December and if so, why were they not raised this month itself.

Along with the Fed rate decision, which will be announced when markets are still trading, the results from big tech companies like Alphabet and Microsoft will be announced after market closing hours. Concerns over their cash flow position, spending targets, and the overall demand scenario will be keenly watched by market participants.

While the US 10-year bond yield continues to remain around the 5% mark, the US Dollar index has strengthened further, and is now nearing levels of 102.5.