Morning Juice – US Session Prep (29th October)

Sentiment
Global equities extended gains as optimism around artificial intelligence and improving US-China relations drove risk appetite higher ahead of the Federal Reserve’s expected rate cut. Nvidia surged 3% in premarket trading after President Trump said he would discuss the chipmaker’s Blackwell processors with China’s Xi Jinping, boosting hopes for expanded AI collaboration and putting Nvidia on track to become the first $5 trillion public company. The broader S&P 500 looked set to continue its record-breaking run, supported by strength in the technology sector.

Tech remained the focal point, with Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, and Apple all set to report earnings in the coming days. The so-called Magnificent Seven are expected to deliver roughly 14% profit growth for the third quarter, nearly double that of the broader market. Meanwhile, the Fed is widely expected to cut rates by 25bps later today, with investors watching for signals on when it might halt its balance-sheet runoff. Treasury yields edged slightly higher, and the dollar firmed amid light trading during the US government shutdown.

In Europe, stocks also gained, led by miners after copper hit a record high as US-China trade optimism lifted growth sentiment. Automakers rose following upbeat results from Mercedes-Benz, while trade headlines continued to drive markets. Reports suggested the White House may halve tariffs on certain Chinese goods as a goodwill gesture ahead of talks, while China resumed buying US soybeans for the first time this season. Trump also said a trade deal with South Korea was “close to finalized,” further adding to the sense of global policy thawing even as market breadth remained narrow.

Docket
09:45 ET
BoC Rate Decision & Statement
Forecast: 2.25% | Prior: 2.50% | Range: 2.50% / 2.25%

10:00 ET
US Pending Home Sales Change MoM for September
Forecast: 1.5% | Prior: 4% | Range: 4% / -1.6%

10:30 ET
Weekly EIA Crude Oil Inventories 
Forecast: -899K | Prior: -961K | Range: 2.5M / -3.587M

14:00 ET
US Interest Rate Decision & FOMC Rate Statement
The forecast is for a 25 bps cut to 4%.

Earnings
16:05 ET
Alphabet Q3 Earnings
Estimated EPS – $2.26
Estimated Revenue – $85.65 Bln

Meta Platforms Q3 2025 Earnings
Estimated EPS – $6.72
Estimated Revenue – $49.57 Bln

Microsoft Q1 2026 Earnings
Estimated EPS – $3.67
Estimated Revenue – $75.55 Bln

EBay Q3 2025 Earnings
Estimated EPS – $1.33
Estimated Revenue – $2.73 Bln

Starbucks Q4 2025 Earnings
Estimated EPS – $0.55
Estimated Revenue – $9.34 Bln

Speakers & Events
10:30 ET
BoC Press Conference with Governor Macklem

14:30 ET
FOMC Press Conference with Fed Chair Powell

16:30 ET
Meta Platforms Earnings Call

17:30 ET
Alphabet Earnings Call
Microsoft Earnings Call

Good luck!