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Stock Market Today: Stocks Edge Up After a Split Fed Vote as Oracle and Vertiv Soar

The S&P 500 edged up 0.28% to 7,743.98 on Wednesday after the Fed held rates in a 10-2 vote. Oracle soared 10.7%, Vertiv 16.5%, and F5 plunged 20.4%.

Nora Whitfield·28 Oct 2026, 5:30 p.m. ET·3 min read
245 of 499 S&P 500 stocks rose on Wednesday 28 OctThe 160 biggest S&P 500 companies, sized by market value, coloured by the day's move
TECHNVDA−1.2%AAPL−0.9%MSFT−0.1%AVGO+2.8%MU+5.9%AMD+3.2%INTC+1.9%PLTR−1.0%ORCL+10.7%CSCO−1.0%AMAT+5.1%PANW−1.8%LRCX+5.4%DELL−1.6%TXN+0.3%CRWD−0.5%IBM+1.2%ADI+0.7%SNDK+7.7%APH+3.5%CRM+0.5%STX+4.5%NOW−3.0%WDC+4.1%ACN+3.5%FINANCIALSBRK.B−0.5%JPM+1.0%V−0.3%MA+0.1%BAC+0.3%MS+1.7%GS+1.5%WFC+1.2%AXP+1.6%C+1.2%BLK+1.9%BX+0.3%CB−0.2%COMMUNICATIONGOOGL+1.3%META−1.2%NFLX−0.8%DIS−1.1%VZ−1.7%DISCRETIONARYAMZN+0.6%TSLA−0.8%HD−0.3%MCD+0.4%HEALTH CARELLY+0.5%JNJ+0.9%ABBV−0.1%UNH−0.8%MRK−0.6%TMO+1.6%ABT−0.4%PFE−1.2%DHR+0.9%INDUSTRIALSCAT+0.0%GE+1.2%RTX+0.6%GEV−1.9%UNP−0.7%DE+0.2%STAPLESWMT−0.5%COST−0.9%KO+0.6%PG−0.6%PM+0.0%ENERGYXOM+1.2%CVX+0.4%LIN−0.1%TECHNVDA−1.2%AAPL−0.9%MSFT−0.1%AVGO+2.8%MU+5.9%AMD+3.2%INTC+1.9%PLTR−1.0%ORCL+10.7%CSCO−1.0%AMAT+5.1%PANW−1.8%LRCX+5.4%DELL−1.6%TXN+0.3%FINANCIALSBRK.B−0.5%JPMV−0.3%MA+0.1%BAC+0.3%MSGSWFC+1.2%C+1.2%COMMUNICATIONGOOGL+1.3%META−1.2%DISCRETIONARYAMZN+0.6%TSLA−0.8%HD−0.3%HEALTH CARELLY+0.5%JNJ+0.9%ABBV−0.1%UNH−0.8%MRKTMO+1.6%INDUSTRIALSCAT+0.0%GE+1.2%STAPLESWMT−0.5%COST−0.9%KO+0.6%PG−0.6%ENERGYXOM+1.2%
−3%−2%−1%0%+1%+2%+3%
Source: Nasdaq daily closes; market values from CNBC

The Federal Reserve held interest rates on Wednesday, but two of its 12 voters wanted to raise them, and stocks shrugged it off. The S&P 500 edged up 0.28% to 7,743.98, its first gain on a Fed decision day since December 2025. The day’s big moves came from companies: Oracle (ORCL) soared 10.7% on its long-term targets, Vertiv (VRT) 16.5% on its orders, and F5 (FFIV) plunged 20.4% on its forecast.

The Nasdaq Composite added 0.27% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.19%. Under the surface the day was split: 247 S&P 500 stocks rose and 256 fell, by our count.

The Fed held, and two officials wanted a hike

The Fed kept its target range at 3.75% to 4.00% in a 10-2 vote, six weeks after its September hike. Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack dissented in favor of another quarter-point increase. “We just came out of a heck of a family fight,” Chair Kevin Warsh told reporters (our Fed story).

Stocks dipped after the 2 p.m. ET statement and recovered while Warsh spoke. The S&P 500 had fallen on six straight Fed days before Wednesday, Yahoo Finance noted. Traders now see about an 85% chance of a hike at the 8–9 December meeting, according to Bloomberg futures data cited by Yahoo Finance.

The 10-year Treasury yield ended at 5.05%, up 6 basis points, while the 2-year, which tracks Fed expectations, edged down to 4.67%, Treasury data show.

Oracle and Vertiv led the AI trade

Oracle had its best day since May after it set a fiscal 2030 revenue target of $225 billion or more and capped new outside funding at $20 billion (full story). Investors had worried about how much the company is borrowing to build AI data centers.

Vertiv, which makes the power and cooling gear inside data centers, was the S&P 500’s best stock. Its organic orders more than doubled, and it raised its 2026 sales forecast by $650 million at the midpoint (full story).

Memory chips rallied on SK hynix

SK hynix, the South Korean memory-chip maker, posted its first quarter with more than 100 trillion won in revenue and said demand will outrun supply through 2030, and Korea’s KOSPI index jumped 6.6%. In the US, Sandisk (SNDK) jumped 7.7% and Micron (MU) 5.9% (full story). The PHLX Semiconductor index rose 1.75%, though Nvidia (NVDA) fell 1.2%.

F5 had the day’s worst fall

F5, whose software and hardware keep big websites running, was the worst stock in the S&P 500. It forecast revenue growth of 8% to 9% for its new fiscal year and lower margins on higher component costs, and Piper Sandler cut the stock to Neutral (full story). It was the stock’s worst day in more than a decade, GeekWire reported.

Oil climbed back above $100

US crude for December delivery settled at $102.78 a barrel, up 2.9%. Warsh named energy prices when explaining why inflation is still too high, and energy stocks were among the best of the S&P 500’s 11 sectors, by our count.

After the bell

Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOGL) reported after the close and went opposite ways. Microsoft’s revenue rose 19% to $92.3 billion and its Azure cloud business grew 48%; the stock rose about 4% in early after-hours trading, SiliconANGLE reported. Alphabet’s Google Cloud revenue more than doubled, but search revenue fell short and free cash flow was negative for a second straight quarter, and its shares plunged about 10% after hours, Investing.com reported.

The numbers

MarketCloseChange
S&P 5007,743.98+0.28%
Nasdaq Composite26,549.85+0.27%
Dow Jones Industrial Average52,475.10+0.19%
Russell 20002,830.51+0.41%
10-year Treasury yield5.05%up 6 basis points
US crude (WTI, December)$102.78+2.9%
Bitcoinabout $81,000late afternoon

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Mostly Markets is for information and education only and isn't investment advice. Nora Whitfield is a pen name. Prices are from Nasdaq and CNBC as of the time stated.

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