Equities declined again last week amid volatile trading, despite yields falling across the Treasury curve. The S&P 500 index dipped 0.5% on the week and slumped more than 1% on Thursday, the second such drop in just five trading days. Before that, the benchmark index hadn't fallen by more than 1% since late July. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.7% on the week, as chip stocks continued to struggle, with the PHLX Semiconductor Sector Index slumping 3.2%.

This week is the busiest on the third-quarter earnings calendar, with about one-third of S&P 500 companies set to release results. Verizon Communications reports on Monday, followed by Boeing, Coca-Cola, and Visa on Tuesday. Alphabet, Ford Motor, GE Vernova, Microsoft, and T-Mobile US release earnings on Wednesday, while Amazon.com, Caterpillar, Eli Lilly, Intel, Mastercard, and Merck follow on Thursday. AbbVie, Chevron, and ExxonMobil Holdings end the week with their results on Friday.

The Federal Open Market Committee will meet this week on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the customary press conference at 2:30 p.m. on the latter day. There is less anticipation than there was for the FOMC meeting in mid-September, as Wall Street is expecting the central bank to keep the federal-funds rate unchanged. But the FOMC and new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, who has inveighed against forward guidance, has a chance to jolt investors with a surprise rate hike.

The most important economic data to be released this week is the personal consumption expenditures price index from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The BEA will release that inflation report on Thursday, along with third-quarter gross-domestic-product growth.

Monday 10/26

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Brown & Brown, Cadence Design Systems, Cincinnati Financial, Hartford Insurance Group, Nucor, Principal Financial Group, $Public Storage(PSA-N)$, Verizon Communications, and Welltower announce earnings.

Tuesday 10/27

American Tower, Baker Hughes, Boeing, BXP, Centene, CenterPoint Energy, CMS Energy, Coca-Cola, Corning, CoStar Group, Ecolab, EQT, Essex Property Trust, Expand Energy, Extra Storage Space, F5, FirstEnergy, Freeport-McMoRan, HCA Healthcare, Hilton Worldwide Holdings, HSBC Holdings, Hubbell, Illinois Tool Works, Invesco, Johnson Controls International, Iqvia, Oneok, Novartis, Paccar, PayPal Holdings, PPG Industries, Robinhood Markets, Royal Caribbean Group, Seagate Technology Holdings, Sherwin-Williams, SoFi Technologies, S&P Global, Teradyne, Universal Health Services, United Parcel Service, Visa, Viatris, Waste Management, and Xylem report quarterly results.

The Census Bureau releases the durable goods report for September. Consensus estimate is for a 1.8% month-over-month increase in new orders for manufactured durable goods, after a 0.1% decline in August. Excluding transportation, new orders are expected to rise 0.6%.

S&P Cotality releases the Case-Shiller National Home Price Index for August. In July, home prices rose 1.9% year over year; Chicago was the strongest market, with a 6.9% jump, and Seattle was the weakest, with a 1.6% drop.

The Conference Board releases its Consumer Confidence Index for October. Economists forecast a 80.8 reading, about one point less than in September. The index is currently at its lowest level since early 2014.

The Census Bureau reports new residential sales for September. The consensus call is for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 650,000 new single-family homes sold, about 5% fewer than in August.

Wednesday 10/28

Align Technology, Alphabet, American Electric Power, American Water Works, Amphenol, Automatic Data Processing, Biogen, Boston Scientific, Carvana, Chipotle Mexican Grill, C.H. Robinson Worldwide, eBay, Equinix, FedEx, Ford Motor, Fortinet, Fortive, Flex, GE HealthCare Technologies, GE Vernova, Gen Digital, Generac Holdings, GSK, Honeywell Aerospace, IDEX, Invitation Homes, International Paper, KLA, Labcorp Holdings, Lennox International, Mid-America Apartment Communities, Masco, MGM Resorts International, Microsoft, NiSource, Old Dominion Freight Line, O'Reilly Automotive, Otis Worldwide, Phillips 66, Raymond James Financial, ServiceNow, TE Connectivity, T-Mobile US, Tyler Technologies, UBS Group, Vici Properties, and Vertiv Holdings release earnings.

The Federal Open Market Committee announces its monetary-policy decision. The central bank is expected to keep the federal-funds rate unchanged at 3.75% to 4%, with traders pricing in only a 10% chance of a quarter-point interest rate hike, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Thursday 10/29

Alliant Energy, Altria Group, Amazon.com, Ameriprise Financial, Anheuser-Busch InBev, A.O. Smith, Ares Management, Arthur J. Gallagher, Avery Dennison, Baxter International, Bristol Myers Squibb, Bunge Global, Carrier Global, Caterpillar, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Coinbase Global, DaVita, DexCom, Digital Realty Trust, D.R. Horton, Edison International, Eli Lilly, Emcor Group, Erie Indemnity, FedEx Freight Holdings, First Solar, Gilead Sciences, GoDaddy, Hershey, Howmet Aerospace, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Illumina, Incyte, Ingersoll Rand, Intel, Intercontinental Exchange, Kimco Realty, L3Harris Technologies, Linde, Mastercard, Merck, Mondelez International, Monolithic Power Systems, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Quanta Services, Reddit, Republic Services, ResMed, Roblox, Sandisk, Shell, Starbucks, Stryker, Textron, TotalEnergies, T. Rowe Price Group, Trane Technologies, Twilio, Veralto, Vulcan Materials, WEC Energy Group, West Pharmaceutical Services, Weyerhaeuser, and Xcel Energy announce quarterly results.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis releases the personal consumption expenditures price index for September. Economists forecast a 3.6% year-over-year increase, two-tenths of a percentage point more than in August. The core PCE price index, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, is expected to rise 3.1%, compared to 3% previously.

The BEA releases its advance estimate of third-quarter gross-domestic-product growth. Consensus estimate is for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.2%, a full percentage more than in the second quarter.

Friday 10/30

AbbVie, AstraZeneca, BP, Cboe Global Markets, Church & Dwight, Chevron, Colgate-Palmolive, Dominion Energy, Exelon, ExxonMobil Holdings, Federal Realty Investment Trust, General Dynamics, Kenvue, LyondellBasell Industries, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and Sanofi report earnings.