Wall Street choppy as mega-cap losses offset chip gains before Fed decision
Published Wed, Oct 28, 2026 · 10:45 PM
[BENGALURU] US stocks wavered on Wednesday (Oct 28) as weakness in mega-caps such as Tesla and Apple offset chipmaker gains sparked by SK Hynix’s bumper results, with focus squarely on hyperscaler earnings and the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision later in the day.
Memory chipmaker Micron Technology jumped 4.8 per cent to its highest in over two weeks after South Korean rival SK Hynix reported a more than seven-times jump in quarterly profit. SK Hynix’s US-listed shares gained 10.6 per cent.
The Philadelphia chips index was up 0.9 per cent, on track to gain for the fourth straight session.
Capping gains on the main benchmarks, Tesla dipped 1.9 per cent after surging more than 9 per cent in the last two sessions. Apple eased 0.6 per cent, while SpaceX dropped 3.2 per cent.
Alphabet advanced 1.2 per cent following a media report that OpenAI plans to buy Google’s artificial intelligence chips.
At 10.01 am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 73.4 points or 0.14 per cent to 52,450.97. The S&P 500 gained 6.1 points or 0.1 per cent to 7,729.20, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 7.13 points or 0.03 per cent to 26,470.68.
Six of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors advanced, with communication services leading gains, while real estate lagged.
The Nasdaq has risen about 2 per cent so far this week, following a bruising first half of the month, as sentiment towards AI improved after Anthropic revealed its US initial public offering filing on Monday.
The focus now shifts to quarterly results from hyperscalers Microsoft and Alphabet, due after markets close on Wednesday, with both companies expected to report accelerating cloud growth.
Investors will closely scrutinise their capital expenditure plans for signs that massive AI investments are generating returns, as concerns over the viability of debt-funded spending amid rising borrowing costs continue to weigh on the sector.
“We can still see that the AI demand has not paused,” said Nadia El Bilassy, senior market analyst at Equiti Group. The top worry for investors “is not AI valuations anymore, but it’s the financing through debt as debt goes through the roof in the US”.
Also on the day, Vertiv jumped 14 per cent after the digital infrastructure provider raised full-year profit and revenue forecasts, while also topping third-quarter expectations.
Boston Scientific shed 8.2 per cent after the medical device maker trimmed its annual profit forecast.
Looking ahead, the market consensus on the Fed’s rate decision is widely tilted towards a pause following last month’s hike, with investors more focused on remarks from Fed chair Kevin Warsh and the policy outlook.
Market expectations, however, remain hawkish as traders see at least three 25-basis-point increases by late 2027, according to LSEG data, as persistently high inflation due to rising energy costs tied to the Middle East conflict bolster the case for tighter monetary policy.
September’s personal consumption expenditures report, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, could test those bets on Thursday. Third-quarter GDP, which is expected to show 3.2 per cent growth, is also due this week.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.06-to-1 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange, while advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.08-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and nine new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 52 new highs and 96 new lows. REUTERS
