US STOCKS-Wall St on pace for higher open as oil pulls back ahead of Fed decision

By Shashwat Chauhan and Utkarsh Hathi

Oct 27 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were on track to open higher on Tuesday as easing oil prices supported risk appetite ahead of a raft of key corporate earnings and the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision this week.

The Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady on Wednesday following an increase last month, though markets are pricing in at least two more hikes by mid-2027 as key inflation indicators remain elevated amid the ongoing US-Iran conflict.

Brent crude slipped for the second straight session in volatile trading, though it still held near its highest level since late April.

At 08:21 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 186 points, or 0.35%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 29 points, or 0.38%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 155 points, or 0.53%.

Coca-Cola KO.N shares inched up 0.1% in premarket trading after the beverage giant raised its annual profit forecast. PayPal PYPL.O gained 1.4% after the payments company also lifted annual adjusted profit view.

Hyperscalers Alphabet GOOGL.O, Microsoft MSFT.O and Amazon.com AMZN.O are expected to report earnings later this week. Their results will be parsed for signs of whether the hefty AI investments are translating into growth.

Jefferies equity strategist Jane Gibbons said in a note that growth for 'Magnificent 7' names could trail the rest of the S&P 500. The brokerage sees earnings for the group of the biggest US tech stocks growing at 21% versus 32% for the rest for the benchmark.

Megacap and growth stocks traded mixed. Tesla TSLA.O shares climbed over 1%, building on their more than 5% gain from the previous session.

Meta META.O inched 0.4% lower after the company increased its largest-ever equity fundraising to $97.5 billion to fund AI expansion. The effort has also drawn interest of up to $5 billion in total from Nvidia NVDA.O, Advanced Micro Devices AMD.O and Broadcom AVGO.O.

The plan comes as growing concerns over the viability of debt-funded spending in the face of rising borrowing costs have weighed on AI trade this month.

Sentiment somewhat improved in the previous session after AI lab Anthropic revealed its IPO filing, taking a big step towards a potentially record-breaking listing even as it disclosed steep losses and security concerns.

The development had helped lift chip stocks .SOX after a bruising few weeks, along with other AI beneficiaries such as photonic product makers and neoclouds.

"If we see positive surprises and (earnings) raises on any of these AI stocks that are reporting from now until the Anthropic IPO, I think it's a very positive environment for the companies," said Peter Andersen, founder of Andersen Capital Management.

Royal Caribbean RCL.N rose 6% after the cruise operator lifted its full-year profit forecast, while Whirlpool WHR.N dropped 5.9% after the home appliance maker reported a third-quarter loss and missed revenue expectations.

Investors are also looking ahead to the November 3 midterm elections, which will decide control of the US Congress.