The week ahead: Witching hour for the Fed, earnings week treat?

The Federal Open Market Committee is meeting on Halloween and the following day will unmask a decision about whether to hike interest rates or stay the course.

Investors don't expect to be spooked by a surprise hike and are betting on Fed keeping rates steady for the second meeting in a row.

Halloween week will also present investors with a goody bag of more earnings, including third-quarter reports from Voya Financial, Ares Management and Apollo Global.

• Ares Management, Franklin Resources, Voya Financial and Artisan Partners will announce earnings on Oct. 31.
  
• On Nov. 1, Janus Henderson and Apollo Global show their earnings cards.
  
• Blue Owl Capital, BrightSphere and Victory Capital report Nov. 2.

• The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing on Nov. 2 examining the SEC's agenda and its impact on U.S. capital markets and investors.

• Also on Oct. 31, the U.S. Conference Board Consumer Confidence for October releases numbers.
  
• On, Nov. 1, the Federal Open Market Committee wraps up its two-day meeting and the ADP Nonfarm Employment Change for October comes out.
  
• U.S. initial jobless claims will be released Nov. 2.
  
• U.S. unemployment rate for October will be reported Nov. 3.

• Oct. 30 brings the disclosure of German GDP (quarter over quarter) for the third quarter and CPI (month over month) for October.
  
• Oct. 31 will see the release of the EU CPI (year over year) for the month.
  
• The Bank of England will report its decision on interest rates on Nov. 2.

• Oct. 30, the China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index for October will be released.
  
• The Global Transition Finance Summit in Singapore, which brings together asset owners, pension funds and sovereign funds together with policy makers, fund managers and corporations to discuss the financial solutions, products and architecture required for the energy transition, will be held Nov. 1. Speakers include representatives from Norges Bank Investment Management, APG Asset Management Asia, OMERS and GIC.
  
• On Nov. 2, Google, Temasek and Bain & Co. will release the eighth edition of the e-Conomy SEA Report for 2023, which reports on the state of the digital economy and its growth drivers across the six largest Southeast Asia countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). Google, Temasek and Bain will give a briefing on the report followed by panel discussions.