US Stocks Edge Up as Fed Holds Rates; Tech Stocks Lead, Oracle Rises 10%, SK Hynix Jumps Over 13% Post-Earnings

TradingKey - On October 28, Eastern Time, major U.S. stock indices rose slightly as investors evaluated the Federal Reserve's decision to hold interest rates unchanged and awaited earnings reports from Google and Microsoft.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.19% to 52,475.10; the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.27% to 26,549.85; and the S&P 500 Index rose 0.28% to 7,743.98.

Tech Stock Performance

Oracle (ORCL) rose 10.58% to $144.34.

Oracle expects free cash flow for the fiscal year ending May 2029 to reach $30 billion, higher than previous market expectations of a negative figure. The company also projects total data center capacity to exceed 10 gigawatts by the end of fiscal 2028, and to gradually reduce capital expenditures starting in fiscal 2029. On financing, Oracle stated that new financing requirements through May 2030 will be kept within $20 billion, while reiterating its fiscal 2030 total revenue target of $225 billion. Analyst Anurag Rana noted that this plan is expected to ease market concerns over the company's heavy AI infrastructure investments over the next two years.

SK Hynix ADR (SKHY) rose 13.3% to $164.70.

SK Hynix reported third-quarter revenue of 104.62 trillion won and operating profit of 83.33 trillion won, up 32% and 38% quarter-on-quarter, respectively, with an operating margin reaching 79.7%. According to JPMorgan, the two metrics were 7% and 9% higher than market consensus, respectively. The beat was primarily driven by memory price hikes and an improved product mix. Average DRAM prices rose nearly 30% quarter-on-quarter, while NAND rose about 25%, both stronger than JPMorgan's forecasts. Citi noted that server DDR5 shipments grew by over 40% quarter-on-quarter, while NAND shifted toward high-value products, supporting earnings growth.

The performance of major tech stocks today is shown in the chart below:

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 1.75% to 11,674 points. Among its 30 constituents, 22 rose and 8 fell.

Company News

DOJ Inquires Into Nvidia's Acquisition of Hugging Face

According to people familiar with the matter, the U.S. Department of Justice is inquiring into Nvidia's (NVDA) agreement to acquire Hugging Face for approximately $13 billion to assess the deal's potential impact on AI market competition. Meanwhile, the DOJ's long-standing investigation into Nvidia's business practices remains ongoing. Nvidia announced the deal in September, stating the acquisition is intended to protect the open-source software community. Hugging Face is a key platform for developers to share models and data, and Nvidia has pledged to maintain its openness following the acquisition.

Anthropic Plans to Offer IPO Shares to UK Retail Investors, Details Pending Finalization

Anthropic is reportedly collaborating with UK investment platform RetailBook to offer UK retail investors the opportunity to subscribe for shares upon its listing, with potential coverage extending to parts of mainland Europe. The UK plan has not been finalized, and specific arrangements remain subject to change. Anthropic publicly filed its U.S. IPO application on Monday, planning to list on Nasdaq under the ticker "ANT". Previous reports indicated the company is considering allocating 15% to 20% of the offered shares to global retail investors, with JPMorgan managing share sales for U.S. individual investors.

Industry & Macro News

Fed Holds Benchmark Rate at 3.75%-4%; Two Members Favor Rate Hike

Following last month's rate hike, the Federal Reserve decided at this meeting to maintain the federal funds target rate range at 3.75% to 4%. The decision passed by a 10-2 vote, with Fed Governor Cook and Cleveland Fed President Hammack dissenting in favor of a 25-basis-point rate increase. This pause buys the Fed more time to evaluate whether rising energy costs and the AI buildout boom will push up broader inflation. The committee stated in its statement that it will assess appropriate policy stances based on incoming information to ensure inflation returns to its 2% target in a timely manner.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management: Fed May Resume Rate Hikes in December, Further Tightening Possible Next Year

Kay Haigh, Chief Investment Officer of Fixed Income at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, believes the Fed's pause on rate hikes is likely only temporary. He expects that strong September CPI data will prompt the Fed to take further precautionary measures and resume rate increases in December. Haigh noted that if energy prices rise again or if subsequent economic data remains robust, the Fed could tighten monetary policy further next year.

New Proposal in US-Iran Talks Involves Resuming Inspections; Iran May Respond as Early as Thursday

According to a report by Israel's i24NEWS, Qatar is waiting for Iran's response to the new proposal, which could come as early as Thursday. Two regional diplomats revealed that the current proposal requires Iran to take specific measures regarding its nuclear program in exchange for the U.S. easing some sanctions and unfreezing certain funds. Measures under consideration include resuming International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities. The two sides remain at odds over the sequencing of actions: Iran demands an initial lifting of the blockade and modest sanction relief before discussing nuclear issues, while the Trump administration insists Iran take nuclear steps in the first phase of negotiations. The report also cited a senior U.S. official stating that the U.S. will not attack Iran before the midterm elections.