Fed Decision and Big Tech Earnings Take Center Stage 29/04/2026

HOT stories for today

Market wrap:

• U.S. stocks slipped Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite pulling back from record highs as fresh doubts around the AI trade hit technology shares. The S&P 500 fell 0.49%, while the Nasdaq lost 0.9%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended nearly flat, down 25.86 points, or 0.05%. The pressure came after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI had missed internal revenue and user-growth targets, raising questions about the pace of AI monetization. Oracle, which has a $300 billion, five-year cloud-computing partnership with OpenAI, dropped 4%. Broadcom and Nvidia also declined, dragging the broader tech complex lower. Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed on Wednesday as investors weighed the AI-growth concerns alongside fresh turbulence in energy markets.
• The United Arab Emirates is set to leave OPEC on May 1, a major setback for the cartel and a potential shake-up for global oil supply coordination. The next big test comes after Wednesday’s close, when Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft report earnings. Investors will be looking for proof that massive AI spending is translating into real revenue growth. The Federal Reserve also wraps up its April policy meeting on Wednesday, likely Jerome Powell’s final meeting as chair before Kevin Warsh is expected to take over in May. Markets expect no change to interest rates, but Powell’s tone could still shape sentiment.

Powell’s Final Fed Presser May End an Era

• Jerome Powell is expected to hold his final Federal Reserve press conference as chair on Wednesday, and it could also mark the end of regular post-meeting Q&A sessions altogether if successor Kevin Warsh follows through on his criticism of Fed communication. Fed press conferences began in 2011 under Ben Bernanke, who introduced them four times a year to improve transparency after years of central-bank secrecy. Powell expanded the practice in 2019, holding a press conference after every policy meeting to give what he called a “plain-English” explanation of the Fed’s decisions. Over time, however, Powell’s answers became more cautious and less market-moving, leading critics such as Harvard economist Greg Mankiw to argue that the briefings had become repetitive and added little new information. 
• Warsh has echoed that view, suggesting this week that press conferences should be reserved for meetings where the Fed has “important news” to deliver, raising the possibility that the regular eight-per-year format could be scrapped. Supporters of the format argue the opposite, that regular press conferences help markets avoid unnecessary volatility by giving investors clearer guidance on policy decisions. Some analysts also believe Warsh may ultimately keep them, seeing the platform as too valuable to give up as a means of shaping the Fed’s message. With no rate change expected at this week’s meeting, investors will be listening closely not just for policy signals, but for clues on whether Powell plans to remain on the Fed board after his chair term ends in May.

Stocks on the move:

• Visa (V): gained 6% after second-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue topped analyst estimates.
• Bloom Energy (BE): rose 9% after beating quarterly expectations and guiding full-year revenue and adjusted earnings above Wall Street forecasts.
• Seagate Technology (STX): jumped about 15% after posting stronger-than-expected third-quarter results and issuing upbeat fourth-quarter revenue and profit guidance.
• Robinhood (HOOD): fell about 6% after first-quarter earnings and revenue came in below expectations.
• Starbucks (SBUX): climbed nearly 5% after raising its full-year outlook, including stronger same-store sales and adjusted earnings guidance.

Watchlist: V, SBUX, HOOD, STX, MDLZ, MSFT, META, GOOGL, AMD

Key Economic Events Today:

EST time

08:30 am: USD Durable Goods Orders
08:30 am: USD Goods Trade Balance, Housing Starts
08:30 am: USD Prelim Wholesale Inventories
10:30 am: USD Crude Oil Inventories
02:00 pm: USD Federal Funds Rate Decision
02:30 pm: USD FOMC Press Conference


Earnings

BMC (Before Market Open): Astrazeneca (AZN), Banco Santander (SAN), TotalEnergies (TTE)

AMC (After Market Close): Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META)



The TEFS Analyst team wishes you a successful day!