Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know this morning, Wednesday, October 28:
1. Global markets mixed ahead of Fed outcome
Asian equities were mostly lower Wednesday, as weakness in oil prices and an uninspiring overnight lead from Wall Street weighed. Japan's Nikkei 225 outperformed the region to end higher on hopes for more stimulus from the Bank of Japan.
In Europe, equity markets traded higher as investors digested quarterly earnings from Volkswagen (DE:VOWG) while looking ahead to the conclusion of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to modest gains at the open, as traders focused on the outcome of Fed's policy meeting.
2. FOMC policy statement in focus
The Fed is widely expected to hold off on raising interest rates at the conclusion of its policy meeting later in the day. The central bank releases its post-meeting statement at 2:00PM ET and investors will be looking for signals on the possibility of a December rate hike.
Concerns over a global economic slowdown led by China and its impact on U.S. growth prospects have prompted market participants to push back expectations for a rate increase to March 2016, though a few haven't completely ruled out a move in December.
The timing of a Fed rate hike has been a constant source of debate in the markets in recent months.
3. Volkswagen posts first quarterly loss in 15 years
Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) posted its first quarterly loss in at least 15 years, slammed by costs related to its rigging of diesel emissions tests, and lowered its profit outlook.
The German automaker reported an operating loss of €3.48 billion for the third quarter and said it expects its 2015 operating profit to be down significantly year-on-year.
Despite the bad news, shares in the carmaker were up over 3%.
4. Apple shares gain after upbeat Q4 earnings
Apple (O:AAPL) reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings of $1.96 per share on sales of $51.5 billion after the closing bell on Tuesday, as strong demand in China boosted profit.
The iPhone maker expects revenue of $75.5 billion to $77.5 billion in the current quarter. Analysts had expected sales of about $77.17 billion.
Shares of the tech giant rose 1.9% in pre-market trade.
5. Oil futures edge up ahead of weekly supply data
Oil futures edged up on Wednesday, but still held near a two-month low as ongoing concerns about a global supply glut continued to dampen sentiment on the commodity.
U.S. crude was last up 34 cents, or 0.79%, at $43.54 a barrel while Brent tacked on 39 cents, or 0.83%, to $47.20 a barrel.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its weekly report on oil supplies at 10:30AM ET Wednesday. The data was expected to show that crude inventories rose by 3.4 million barrels last week. After markets closed on Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute said that crude supplies rose by 4.1 million barrels in the week ended October 23.