MarketAlleys Daily Brief, Monday October 26: FOMC decision and earnings ahead

Global market snapshot

US equity ETFs were mixed at the prior close: the SPY ETF was $759.97 (fell 0.52% from the prior close), the QQQ ETF was $704.40 (was little changed from the prior close), the DIA ETF was $521.37 (fell 1.24% from the prior close) and the IWM ETF was $275.75 (fell 0.33% from the prior close). Crypto prices moved over 24 hours: Bitcoin was $80,112.00 (fell 0.49% over 24 hours) and Ether was $2,321.48 (fell 1.23% over 24 hours).

US equities: prior close

At the prior close the SPY ETF was $759.97 and fell 0.52% from the prior close, the QQQ ETF was $704.40 and was little changed from the prior close, the DIA ETF was $521.37 and fell 1.24% from the prior close, and the IWM ETF was $275.75 and fell 0.33% from the prior close. Among large-cap stocks, NVIDIA was $210.96 (fell 0.59% from the prior close), Apple was $347.73 (fell 0.14% from the prior close) and Microsoft was $524.51 (rose 0.66% from the prior close).

Europe and Asia

European and Asian ETFs were lower at the prior close: the EWG ETF was $40.94 and fell 0.99% from the prior close, the EWU ETF was $47.52 and fell 0.67% from the prior close, and the EWJ ETF was $94.10 and fell 0.53% from the prior close.

Crypto

Over 24 hours Bitcoin was $80,112.00 and fell 0.49% over 24 hours, Ether was $2,321.48 and fell 1.23% over 24 hours, Solana was $101.27 and fell 0.56% over 24 hours, and XRP was $1.2900 and fell 1.07% over 24 hours.

FX, commodities and rates

FX reference rates are reported from the prior ECB fixing: EUR/USD was 1.1193 (fell 0.11% from the prior ECB fixing), USD/JPY was 156.80 (fell 0.15% from the prior ECB fixing), GBP/USD was 1.3368 (fell 0.06% from the prior ECB fixing) and USD/CHF was 0.8244 (rose 0.28% from the prior ECB fixing), all as of Oct 23, 14:00 UTC. Commodity ETFs at the prior close included the GLD ETF at $366.61 (fell 0.65% from the prior close), the SLV ETF at $48.72 (fell 1.26% from the prior close), the USO ETF at $169.53 (rose 4.32% from the prior close) and the BNO ETF at $70.99 (rose 3.02% from the prior close), all as of Oct 23, 20:00 UTC. US Treasury yields were 4.65% for the US 2-year Treasury yield (dailyChange -16 bp) and 4.96% for the US 10-year Treasury yield (dailyChange -17 bp), observationDate Thu Oct 22.

Top catalysts ahead

Fourteen events are scheduled on the calendar. Notable items include VZ Q3 2026 earnings on Mon Oct 26 (before the open), a cluster of large US earnings on Tue–Wed including CNC and BA on Tue Oct 27 (before the open) and GOOGL and MSFT after the close on Wed Oct 28, and the FOMC rate decision on Wed Oct 28 at 18:00 UTC.

• Mon Oct 26 (before the open) — VZ Q3 2026 earnings · EPS estimate 1.31
• Tue Oct 27 (before the open) — CNC Q3 2026 earnings · EPS estimate 0.10
• Tue Oct 27 (before the open) — BA Q3 2026 earnings · EPS estimate -0.21
• Wed Oct 28 (before the open) — PSX Q3 2026 earnings · EPS estimate 11.84
• Wed Oct 28, 18:00 UTC — FOMC rate decision (US) (source)

Three stories to watch

The European Central Bank published a speech titled "Frank Elderson: Taking action for nature – investing in economic resilience and prosperity", publisher European Central Bank. Reuters reported an exclusive on how purchases of sanctioned Iranian jet fuel were disguised by Myanmar, publisher Reuters. Reuters reported that Houthis say they attacked East-West oil pumping stations, with no Saudi confirmation, publisher Reuters.

• Frank Elderson: Taking action for nature – investing in economic resilience and prosperity — European Central Bank, Oct 26, 05:00 UTC
• EXCLUSIVE: How purchases of sanctioned Iranian jet fuel were disguised by Myanmar — Reuters, Oct 26, 04:02 UTC
• Houthis say they attacked East-West oil pumping stations; No Saudi confirmation — Reuters, Oct 26, 03:48 UTC

What matters next

The FOMC rate decision is scheduled for Wed Oct 28, 18:00 UTC and will be a high-importance event on the calendar. Other scheduled high-importance items this week include US Personal income and outlays / PCE and GDP on Thu Oct 29 and the ECB monetary policy decision on Thu Oct 29 at 13:15 UTC.

• Next central-bank decision: Wed Oct 28, 18:00 UTC — FOMC rate decision (US) (source)
• Next high-impact data: Thu Oct 29 (time not confirmed) — Personal income and outlays / PCE (BEA) (US) (source)
• Next major earnings: Mon Oct 26 (time not confirmed) — EA Q2 2027 earnings · EPS estimate 2.11

Sources and data

• Finnhub (market data) — market data
• CoinGecko (market data) — market data
• European Central Bank (euro reference rates) (primary source) — market data
• U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve Board via FRED (primary source) — Yields and dollar index
• U.S. Energy Information Administration via FRED (primary source) — calendar
• Federal Reserve (primary source) — calendar
• Bank of England (primary source) — calendar
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (primary source) — calendar
• European Central Bank (primary source) — Frank Elderson: Taking action for nature – investing in economic resilience and prosperity
• Reuters (secondary source) — EXCLUSIVE: How purchases of sanctioned Iranian jet fuel were disguised by Myanmar
• CoinDesk (secondary source) — Elon Musk confirms $40 billion SpaceX debt deal for AI chips, warns of neocloud shakeout

Market data as of Oct 26, 05:43 UTC; report generated Oct 26, 06:01 UTC. All times are UTC. Each table row shows its own timestamp and provider.

This report was produced by the MarketAlleys Research Desk using automated data processing and language tools from the sources listed above, and checked against our automated-content validation rules. It is for information only and is not investment advice.