S&P 500 futures inch higher ahead of Fed decision. Nasdaq futures gain after SK Hynix profit boom: Live updates

Mortgage rates fell for the second straight week, and that finally brought consumers back to their brokers. A growing share, however, applied for riskier loans at even lower rates.

Total mortgage application volume rose 3.4% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances, $832,750 or less, decreased to 7.37% from 7.41%, with points increasing to 0.76 from 0.75, including the origination fee, for loans with a 20% down payment. Read more.

— Diana Olick

Treasury yields moved higher as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy decision, due later in the session.

The 10-year Treasury note yield — the main benchmark for mortgages, auto loans and credit card debt — was more than 1 basis point higher at 5.0092% by 5:40 a.m. E.T.

The yield on the 2-year Treasury note, which more closely follows short-term Federal Reserve rate decisions, was flat at 4.7453%.

The yield on longer-dated 30-year U.S. Treasurys — which tend to move on geopolitical events — was up by more than 1 basis point at 5.3157%.

UniCredit chairman Pier Carlo Padoan will step down at the end of his term for personal reasons, the Italian bank said Wednesday.

Padoan — who served as Italy’s finance and economy minister from 2014 to 2018 — has been chair of UniCredit’s board since April 2021.

In a statement, UniCredit said Padoan had steered the bank through an “operational and strategic transformation”, navigating “challenging circumstances arising from both the broader macroeconomic environment and the evolving political landscape.”

The bank said Padoan will work with its nomination committee to identify a successor.

UniCredit’s Milan-listed shares were last seen around 0.5% lower in morning trade.

—Hugh Leask

European equities were trading mixed on Wednesday morning, as investors digested a swathe of corporate earnings out of the region.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was marginally lower by 9:15 a.m. in London (4:15 a.m. ET), with the FTSE 100 down by 0.2% while the CAC 40 added 0.1% and Germany’s DAX was little changed.

Autos stocks led regional gains after earnings from Jeep maker Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, while banking stocks fell after reports from Santander, UBS, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas.

— Chloe Taylor

Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 1.08% higher at 63,954.19,  while the Topix slipped 0.14% at 3,991.71.

South Korea’s Kospi rose 6.63% to 6,012.44 and the tech-focused, small-cap Kosdaq advanced 3.69% at 771.28.

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 ended flat at 8,847.30.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.24% in its last hour of trade, while mainland China’s CSI 300 closed 0.85% higher at 4,083.87.

—Justina Lee

GSK posted quarterly earnings slightly ahead of forecasts early Wednesday, as the drugmaker continues to advance its pipeline ahead of a looming patent cliff which will see revenue drop for older, best-selling medicines as they come to face generic competition.

Third-quarter sales came in at £8.9 billion ($11.8 billion), up 5% year-on-year in constant exchange rates.

Operating profit in the quarter fell 16%, driven by restructuring charges of £328 million. On an adjusted basis, operating profit grew by 5% to £3.1 billion.

The London-listed company reiterated its full-year guidance and said it remained on track for 2031 sales of more than £40 billion.

On Tuesday, GSK’s oncology lead told the Wall Street Journal it would nearly double the number of cancer medicines in its pipeline next year, as Britain’s second-largest drugmaker bets big on the unit under CEO Luke Miels.

GSK bought the U.S.-based specialized oncology biotech Nuvalent earlier this year, in its largest acquisition in over a decade.

– Elsa Ohlen

German luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz reported a slump in third-quarter car sales and cut guidance, citing continued pressure in the Chinese market.

The car maker said Wednesday that third-quarter car sales declined 8% to 407,232 vehicles, with sales in the first nine months of the year down 7% to 1,244,427 units. It cited “intense competition” and a “challenging market environment” in China for the decline.

German premium automakers have struggled with competition from domestic Chinese brands like BYD, Geely, and Xiaomi.

However, it recorded growth in revenue to 30.7 billion euros ($34 billion), while net profit increased to 1.52 billion euros, with higher unit sales in Europe and the U.S. supporting earnings.

“Continued sales growth in Europe and the United States and record BEV sales show that our new models are resonating with customers,” Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius said.

“At the same time, market conditions have become even more challenging over the course of the year, particularly in China. Consistent cost discipline and strong contributions from Mercedes-Benz Vans and Mercedes-Benz Financial Services help us counter these headwinds, while our strong balance sheet allows us to keep investing in our future.”

The company is guiding for its full-year revenue to come in slightly below expectations, with free cash flow significantly below expectations.

— Sawdah Bhaimiya

Santander‘s reported net profit fell 2.1% year-on-year in the third quarter to 3.43 billion euros ($3.81 billion), while underlying net profit rose 19% to 3.85 billion euros.

Net interest income climbed to 11.83 billion euros, up from 10.35 billion euros a year earlier.

The decline in reported profit stemmed partly from some 416 million euros in restructuring and integration costs related to Santander’s acquisition of U.S. lender Webster Bank.

Spain’s largest bank reaffirmed its full-year 2026 guidance, including its target for profit to exceed the 14.1 billion euros it earned in 2025.

— Hugh Leask

Deutsche Bank reported a net profit of 1.9 billion euros ($2.11 billion) in the third quarter, a 2% rise year-on-year, while pre-tax profits at the German lender rose 8% year-on-year to 2.6 billion euros.

Assets under management rose by 50 billion euros to 2 trillion euros across the firm’s private bank and asset management unit, fueled by record net inflows of 47 billion euros.

Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing said revenue, investment inflows, loans and deposits all grew, with Germany showing stronger momentum, as the bank’s return on tangible equity — a measure of how well it turns shareholder funds into profit — rose to 11.5% for the first nine months of 2026.

— Hugh Leask

UBS reported a pre-tax profit of almost $3.6 billion in the third quarter, up 27% year on year, largely in line with consensus forecasts.

The Swiss banking and asset management giant saw strong net inflows into its global wealth management business.

Net profits were $2.7 billion for the third quarter, in line with estimates.

Jio Platforms’ shares rose 21.4% on their trading debut Wednesday after a record initial public offering that was lapped up by retail as well as institutional investors.

India’s largest telecom and digital services player had offered 270 million shares in the IPO priced at 1,119 rupees apiece, raising 302 billion rupees ($3.2 billion) in the country’s largest-ever IPO.

The public issue was subscribed more than 22 times, with institutional investors leading the demand, according to data from the BSE. The qualified institutional portion was subscribed 70.55 times, while retail investors subscribed 2.72 times.

—Priyanka Salve

Shares of Chinese toymaker Pop Mart, known for its popular Labubu dolls, added to their more than 30% decline so far this year, following a sharp decline in third-quarter revenue.

Shares were last down under 2%, paring losses after declining more than 6% in early trading Wednesday. They have ended in the red in nine of the past 12 sessions.

The company reported a 45% to 50% year-on-year drop in third-quarter revenue on Tuesday, according to a filing.

—Jenny Lee

The Korea Exchange activated a buy-side sidecar on the Kospi, temporarily halting program trading, as South Korean stocks surged.

A buy-side sidecar is triggered when the Kospi 200 futures index rises 5% or more for at least one minute, stopping trading for 5 minutes.

The Kospi was last up 4.8%.

—Justina Lee

South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix on Wednesday posted a record high quarterly profit, sharply beating estimates, and announced over $25 billion in dividends and buybacks, sending shares more than 3% higher.

SK Hynix posted record quarterly revenue and operating profit, with sales exceeding 100 trillion won for the first time, as it announced plans to return about 100 trillion won to shareholders — including at least 30 trillion won in cash dividends and 60 trillion won in share buybacks and cancellations. 

The chipmaker approved a third-quarter dividend of 14 trillion won, including a special dividend funded by gains from its investment in Kioxia. The company will also buyback 20 trillion won in shares, half of which will be cancelled this year.

—Jenny Lee

Asia-Pacific markets traded higher early Wednesday.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 added over 0.74% while the Topix rose 0.32%.

The Kospi gained 2.06% at open, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 1.78%.

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was 0.84% higher.

—Justina Lee

Asia-Pacific markets were set to open higher Wednesday, tracking U.S. stocks that rose on optimism around AI stocks, while a slide in oil prices also lifted market sentiment.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was poised to gain, with the Chicago futures contract at 64,410 and its Osaka counterpart last trading at 64,420, compared with the index’s previous close of 63,268.37.

Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures were at 23,093, compared with the index’s last close of 23,041.32.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.27% in early trade.

Crude oil prices fell for the second straight session Tuesday, helped by a renewed diplomatic push to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East.

—Justina Lee

Oracle rallied 3.6% on Tuesday as it took steps to integrate ChatGPT and Codex into apps and expand its cloud chip lineup.

Oracle is adding OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Codex to its application stack, extending enterprise access to OpenAI tools. Mahesh Thiagarajan, Oracle’s president of Cloud Infrastructure, told CNBC at Oracle AI World in Las Vegas that using ChatGPT “allows anybody to build an application, deploy it, manage it.”

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure will add Google TPUs, OpenAI’s Jalapeño chip and Cerebras hardware as customers seek more silicon options. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is set to join Oracle co-CEO Clay Magouyrk for a keynote at Oracle AI World.

Oracle shares are down 33% in 2026, and off about 54% over the past 12 months.

— Scott Schnipper, Seema Mody, Nick Wells

Check out the companies making the biggest moves after hours:

Robinhood — The online trading platform fell almost 5%. Third-quarter revenue came in line with expectations, and the company lowered the high-end of its forecast for full-year 2026 adjusted operating expenses. Average revenue per user in the third quarter came in at $200, versus the StreetAccount consensus estimate of $201.09.

Seagate Technology — Shares sank 6% despite the data storage company reporting an earnings and revenue beat in its fiscal first-quarter financial report, per LSEG. Seagate also delivered better-than-expected guidance for the current quarter.

NXP Semiconductors — The semiconductor manufacturer tumbled 9% after fourth-quarter revenue projections came roughly in line with expectations. NXP sees revenue landing at $3.85 billion, plus or minus $100 million, while the LSEG consensus called for $3.86 billion. Operating income for the period is expected to range from $1.374 billion to $1.442 billion on an adjusted basis, while the FactSet consensus anticipated $1.44 billion.

Read the full list here.

— Davis Giangiulio and Darla Mercado