US Close 28 October 2026: S&P 500 +0.28% as Fed Holds 10-2 and Oracle Jumps 10.73%; F5 -20.43%

S&P 500 close: 7,743.98 (+0.28%) Breadth: 257 advancers / 242 decliners (499 large caps swept) Sentiment: mixed

The S&P 500 closed at 7,743.98 on 28 October 2026, up 21.38 points or 0.28%, as chip and AI-infrastructure stocks offset a Federal Reserve hold that two officials wanted to be a hike. ORCL.US rose 10.73% after Oracle forecast $225 billion of fiscal 2030 revenue and capped new funding at $20 billion, while FFIV.US fell 20.43% on a fiscal 2027 growth outlook of 8% to 9%. The Fed kept its target range at 3.75% to 4% in a 10-2 vote, and the 10-year Treasury yield rose 5 bps to 5.05%.

What moved the index

The S&P 500 gained 28 bps on 28 October 2026; technology supplied about 26 bps and financials 6 bps, while communication services, utilities and staples took back about 8 bps.

• Technology (XLK +0.80%): worth about 26 bps on a sector weight near 33%. Memory and AI hardware led after SK Hynix's record quarter: MU.US +5.86%, AMD.US +3.24%, AVGO.US +2.77%, with ORCL.US alone worth about 6 bps. NVDA.US -1.17% and AAPL.US -0.94% trimmed the sector gain.
• Financials (XLF +0.45%): about 6 bps on a 13% weight. JPM.US +1.05% and GS.US +1.47%, with EVR.US +12.51% on record third-quarter revenue.
• Health care (XLV +0.30%) and industrials (XLI +0.34%): about 6 bps combined. LH.US +8.78% and VRT.US +16.48% after raised full-year guidance offset freight losses in LSTR.US and CHRW.US.
• Communication services (XLC -0.42%), utilities (XLU -0.84%) and staples (XLP -0.36%): together about -8 bps. META.US -1.24%; rate-sensitive utilities and real estate (XLRE -0.73%) fell as the 10-year yield moved back above 5%.

Together, these four account for about 30 bps of the 28 bps move; consumer discretionary (XLY -0.10%) and real estate make up most of the residual.

Session highlights

• 3.75% to 4% on the federal funds target, held by a 10-2 vote; Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack preferred a quarter-point hike. The statement said "Economic activity is expanding at a strong pace" and "Inflation remains elevated" (Federal Reserve).
• 85% is the futures-implied chance of a quarter-point hike at the 9 December decision, according to Bloomberg data cited by Yahoo Finance. Chair Kevin Warsh also cut the number of rate-setting meetings to seven in 2027.
• 26,549.85 on the Nasdaq Composite, up 0.27%, and 52,475.10 on the Dow, up 97.53 points (+0.19%). The Russell 2000 added 0.41% to 2,830.51 and the VIX fell 3.48% to 16.91.
• SKHY.US +13.30% in US trading after SK Hynix posted third-quarter revenue of 104.6 trillion won, up 328%, and operating profit of 83.3 trillion won (Benzinga). SMH +1.74%.
• WTI crude +2.04% to $101.94 after reports that US officials told Gulf states to prepare for a military campaign against Iran after the 3 November midterms, and a Houthi claim of a strike on Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura refinery that Saudi authorities had not confirmed (Benzinga).
• DXY -0.19% to 102.13, ending a three-day gain; gold futures +0.16% to $4,081.20.

Sector scorecard

• Best: Technology (XLK +0.80%)
• Worst: Utilities (XLU -0.84%)
• Dispersion (best minus worst): 1.64 pts
• Six of 11 SPDR sector funds rose. Inside industrials, VRT.US +16.48% and FLEX.US +11.61% sat against freight losses in LSTR.US -17.76%, CHRW.US -11.14% and ODFL.US -7.33%, while the XLI fund moved 0.34%.

Top movers

After-hours earnings

Investing.com and StockTitan reported these after-hours moves shortly after the close; extended-hours quotes are thin and can reverse.

• MSFT.US: closed -0.06% at $531.01, then gained 4% (Investing.com). Fiscal first-quarter adjusted EPS of $4.89 beat the $4.72 consensus on revenue of $92.28 billion against $90.61 billion expected; Azure grew 48%.
• GOOGL.US: closed +1.34% at $324.89, then dropped 8% (Investing.com). Revenue rose 25% to $127.6 billion, but EPS of $2.12 missed the $3.02 target and free cash flow was negative $9.07 billion. Google Cloud revenue rose 103% to $30.7 billion (StockTitan).
• FTNT.US: closed -5.90% at $174.08, then fell 25.6% by 5:00pm ET (StockTitan). Revenue rose 20% to $2.08 billion, but its 2026 revenue raise was the smallest of three this year and Fortinet cut its service revenue forecast.
• NOW.US: closed -3.00% at $150.13, then tumbled 16% (Investing.com). Adjusted EPS of $1.00 missed the $1.02 estimate, and fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $4.25 billion to $4.26 billion sits below the $4.36 billion expected.
• KLAC.US: closed +3.33% at $158.77, then rose 3% (Investing.com) on fiscal first-quarter revenue of $4.14 billion against $4.04 billion consensus and a second-quarter revenue guide of $4.70 billion.

Notable announcements

• ORCL.US: forecast fiscal 2030 revenue of $225 billion, implying 35% average annual growth, an operating margin above 40% and positive free cash flow from the second half of fiscal 2028; additional funding through fiscal 2030 is capped at $20 billion, split equally between equity and debt (CNBC).
• ENPH.US: cited higher interest rates and the expiration of the Section 25D residential solar tax credit; TAN, the Invesco Solar ETF, closed -2.48%.
• WEN.US: +15.15% after Trian proposed a non-binding $7.35 a share cash offer, valuing Wendy's at about $1.4 billion (StockTitan, CNBC).

Next session catalysts (ET)

• Thu 29 Oct, 8:30am: third-quarter GDP advance estimate (consensus 3.2%), September PCE and core PCE, and weekly jobless claims.
• Thu 29 Oct: European Central Bank rate decision.
• Thu 29 Oct, after the close: AMZN.US third-quarter results.
• Tue 3 Nov: US midterm elections.

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