Week Ahead, Monday October 26, 2026: FOMC and ECB meetings, 15 earnings reports scheduled

The week at a glance

This week lists 22 upcoming scheduled events, comprising 7 macro releases and 15 earnings, per the calendar counts. Two are central-bank decisions; 19 events are flagged as high importance. The schedule mixes before-the-open and after-the-close corporate reports with policy meetings and several high-importance US data releases.

Central banks

The FOMC rate decision is scheduled for Wed Oct 28, 18:00 UTC; the item is listed as a high-importance macro event. The ECB monetary policy decision is scheduled for Thu Oct 29, 13:15 UTC; that decision is also listed as a high-importance macro event. Both meetings are shown in the upcoming events calendar.

• Wed Oct 28, 18:00 UTC — FOMC rate decision (US) (source)
• Thu Oct 29, 13:15 UTC — ECB monetary policy decision (EU) (source)

Key economic data

Key high-importance economic releases scheduled this week include personal income and outlays / PCE and GDP, both listed for Thu Oct 29 with time not confirmed; the dataset does not provide consensus figures for these releases. Weekly jobless claims and the Employment Cost Index are also on the calendar (jobless claims listed as medium importance; Employment Cost Index scheduled Fri Oct 30, 12:30 UTC).

• Tue Oct 27 (time not confirmed) — Housing starts and permits (Census) (US) (source)
• Thu Oct 29 (time not confirmed) — Weekly jobless claims (DOL) (US) (source)
• Thu Oct 29 (time not confirmed) — Personal income and outlays / PCE (BEA) (US) (source)
• Thu Oct 29 (time not confirmed) — GDP (BEA) (US) (source)
• Fri Oct 30, 12:30 UTC — Employment Cost Index (US) (source)

Earnings to watch

Fifteen high-importance earnings are scheduled this week. Notable reports include VZ on Mon Oct 26 (before the open, EPS estimate 1.31), BA, CNC and UPS on Tue Oct 27 (before the open, EPS estimates -0.21, 0.10 and 1.64 respectively), and a cluster on Wed Oct 28 when PSX reports before the open (EPS estimate 11.89) and GOOGL, MSFT, F, TMUS and FDX report after the close (GOOGL estimate 3.11; MSFT 4.82; F 0.41; TMUS 2.97; FDX 3.52). LLY, AMZN, XOM and CVX are scheduled later in the week, and BRK.A is listed for Mon Nov 2 (time not confirmed, EPS estimate 9253.77).

• 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
• Tue Oct 27 (before the open) — UPS Q3 2026 earnings · EPS estimate 1.64
• Wed Oct 28 (before the open) — PSX Q3 2026 earnings · EPS estimate 11.89
• Wed Oct 28 (after the close) — GOOGL Q3 2026 earnings · EPS estimate 3.11
• Wed Oct 28 (after the close) — MSFT Q1 2027 earnings · EPS estimate 4.82
• Wed Oct 28 (after the close) — F Q3 2026 earnings · EPS estimate 0.41
• Wed Oct 28 (after the close) — TMUS Q3 2026 earnings · EPS estimate 2.97
• Wed Oct 28 (after the close) — FDX Q3 2026 earnings · EPS estimate 3.52
• Thu Oct 29 (before the open) — LLY Q3 2026 earnings · EPS estimate 7.01
• Thu Oct 29 (after the close) — AMZN Q3 2026 earnings · EPS estimate 2.00

Market backdrop: last five sessions

Over the last five sessions the SPY ETF five-session change was -0.43%, the QQQ ETF five-session change was -0.76%, and the DIA ETF five-session change was +0.44%. The IWM ETF five-session change was +1.96% while the VIXY ETF five-session change was +1.07%. Market breadth tracked 32 issues with 12 up, 19 down and 1 unchanged; US 2-year Treasury yield stood at 4.65% (dailyChange -16 bp) and the US 10-year Treasury yield at 4.96% (dailyChange -17 bp).

Themes to monitor

CNBC flags peak earnings season alongside a Fed meeting and fresh inflation data, highlighting policy and corporate reporting as intersecting themes. business-standard.com notes oil’s surge and potential implications for bullion, while trend signals show WTI Crude Oil status as bullish; those items underline energy and commodity-price attention. CoinDesk coverage of tokenization rules and banking complaints points to ongoing regulatory focus around crypto even as Bitcoin and Ether show neutral trend signals in the dataset.

• Here are 4 big things we're watching in the stock market this week — CNBC, Oct 25, 14:58 UTC
• Latvia targets tokenization rules in 2027 with commercial property in focus — CoinDesk, Oct 25, 15:00 UTC
• UK banks face 10,000 complaints in 3 months over crypto restrictions — CoinDesk, Oct 25, 13:00 UTC
• SEC Announces Fiscal Year 2027 Examination Priorities — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Oct 23, 14:10 UTC

Trend status is a rules-based classification of moving averages and MACD on daily closes (as of Oct 24, 22:40 UTC); it is not a recommendation.

What matters next

This week will be shaped by the FOMC rate decision on Wed Oct 28, 18:00 UTC and the ECB decision on Thu Oct 29, 13:15 UTC, and by high-importance US data on Thu Oct 29 including personal income and outlays / PCE and GDP. A string of major earnings reports — including GOOGL, MSFT and AMZN — is scheduled midweek and will be released before and after US trading hours.

• 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
• Next US cash session: 2026-10-26

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
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (primary source) — calendar
• Bank of England (primary source) — calendar
• CNBC (secondary source) — Here are 4 big things we're watching in the stock market this week
• CoinDesk (secondary source) — Latvia targets tokenization rules in 2027 with commercial property in focus
• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (primary source) — SEC Announces Fiscal Year 2027 Examination Priorities
• Reuters (secondary source) — Disenchanted Netanyahu supporters are prize of Israel election campaign
• business-standard.com (secondary source) — Gold, silver face fresh test as oil surge puts Fed policy decision in focus

Market data as of Oct 25, 16:59 UTC; report generated Oct 25, 17:00 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.