This market preview for Wednesday, October 28 highlights key events to watch: Alphabet (GOOG) and Microsoft (MSFT) are reporting quarterly results, with investors focused on the cost of financing AI investments. Microsoft is offering buyouts to upward of 60,000 eligible employees as it seeks to trim expenses amid its massive AI buildout. Outside of AI, FedEx, T-Mobile, Ford and Chipotle are expected to report after the market close. The Federal Reserve announces its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. Eastern, with rates expected to hold steady; one guest called it a hawkish hold despite hot inflation, while Fed Chair Warsh has neither endorsed nor pushed back on colleagues' signals that they want to wait for more data.
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earningsinterest ratesFedAI investmentGOOGLMSFT
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Related tickers and likely impact
GOOGL
• NeutralAlphabet Inc. (Class A)
Relevance: medium
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Communication Services |
| Industry | Interactive Media & Services |
| Market cap | $4.0T |
| Close on 10/27/2026 | 320.57 |
| Change that session | +1.19% |
MSFT
• NeutralMicrosoft
Relevance: medium
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Information Technology |
| Industry | Systems Software |
| Market cap | $3.9T |
| Close on 10/27/2026 | 531.60 |
| Change that session | -0.19% |
DXY
• NeutralRelevance: medium
| Market | Currencies |
|---|---|
| Close on 10/27/2026 | 102.37 |
| Change that session | +0.35% |
SPY
• NeutralSPDR S&P 500 ETF
Relevance: medium
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | ETF |
| Close on 10/27/2026 | 769.72 |
| Change that session | +0.57% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
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Alphabet and Microsoft, which together make up 11.5% of the S&P 500, report earnings after the bell on Wednesday, with analysts expecting revenue growth of 25.2% and 16.7%. Investors want evidence that heavy AI infrastructure spending will produce profit and cash flow, a concern heightened by Gartner's forecast that AI revenue will be insufficient to support profitable returns on all planned AI capex, with $6 trillion of spending expected from 2027 to 2030. Neocloud providers face the most pressure because they rely heavily on debt, and Meta shares fell 7% Thursday and another 1% Friday after its AI spending turned free cash flow negative. Alphabet reported negative free cash flow of $5.9 billion in the second quarter, while Google Cloud revenue rose 82% to $24.8 billion, Azure grew 43% to $37.8 billion, and Microsoft 365 Copilot passed 30 million paid users. Yorkville Ives estimates hyperscalers hold a $2 trillion cloud backlog and will spend more than $800 billion on AI in 2026.
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Latest news
- Breaking Development as 3 of Britain's 4 Nuclear-Armed Submarines Put to Sea
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- Revealed: the private banks with the highest profits in the first nine months of 2026
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- Savings rates fall to near 0% at one bank
Ngan hang TMCP Sai Gon (SCB) cut its online savings rates for new individual customers to 0.1-0.7% per year from October 26, 2026, well below the system's general level. Deposits of 31, 39 and 45 days and 1 to 5 months earn 0.1% per year, 6 to 11 months 0.5%, 12, 13, 15 and 18 months 0.6%, and 24 and 36 months 0.7%, the highest in the table. For 100 million VND deposited for 12 months at 0.6% per year, interest at maturity is 600,000 VND; for 24 months at 0.7%, estimated interest is 1.4 million VND, assuming the rate holds and no early withdrawal. The move follows an October 21 directive from the State Bank of Vietnam requiring banks to cut average deposit rates by at least 0.5 percentage points per year for new deposits of six months or longer in late 2026. SCB has been under special control since 2022 and has shrunk from nearly 240 transaction points to about 8 across 6 localities.
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