London morning: Wall Street closes higher, Nikkei 225 up 1.73%, US orders data due

US stocks ended Monday's session higher, with the S&P 500 closing at 7676.77, up 0.70%. Asian equities followed in Tokyo, where the Nikkei 225 was up 1.73% by 15:25 local time.

What happened

The S&P 500 finished at 7676.77 on October 26, 2026, a gain of 53.09 points from the previous close of 7623.68. That is a rise of 0.70% at the 16:00 New York close. The Nasdaq 100 rose more in percentage terms. It ended at 29273.4, up 315.87 points, or 1.09%, from a previous close of 28957.53.

The larger percentage move in the Nasdaq 100 means the technology-heavy index gained more than the broader S&P 500 over the session. Both indices closed above their previous levels, so the US session ended with gains across the two benchmarks in this report.

Tokyo and the currency market

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 stood at 63268.37 at 15:25 Tokyo time on October 27. That is 1078.72 points above the previous close of 62189.65, a rise of 1.73%. The percentage move was larger than either US index recorded on Monday.

In currency markets, EUR/USD stands at 1.1160 at 08:00 UTC. The previous close was 1.1179, so the pair is down 0.0019, or 0.17%. In plain terms, the euro is buying slightly fewer US dollars than it did at the last close. The move is small, and it comes before the main US data of the day.

The session ahead in Europe

The Italian Stock Exchange opens today at 09:00 Rome time and trades until 17:30. European participants therefore start the day with Monday's gains on Wall Street and the higher level in Tokyo as their reference points. No European index data is included in this report, so the opening levels in Europe are not yet known.

The overnight picture is one of gains in the two equity regions that have already traded. The US session ended with both major indices higher, and Japan is higher on the day. EUR/USD is the one instrument in this set that is lower.

For readers outside the region, the sequence of the day is simple. Asia has already traded, Europe is about to open, and the United States releases its data later in the morning, at 12:30 UTC and 14:00 UTC. Each of those moments gives a new reading on how markets are pricing the news.

The US calendar: durable goods and new home sales

Two groups of high-impact US releases are scheduled for today. The first is the September durable goods report at 12:30 UTC. Durable goods are manufactured items meant to last for years, such as machinery and vehicles. Orders for them are a common gauge of business spending and factory demand.

The headline durable goods orders figure for September has an estimate of 1.5% month on month. The previous reading was 0%. The version that excludes transportation has an estimate of 0.6%, against a previous 0.3%. Excluding transportation removes volatile items such as aircraft, so this measure is often used to see the underlying trend. The version that excludes defense has an estimate of 0%, against a previous 0.1%.

The second group comes at 14:00 UTC with new home sales for September. The estimate is 0.65 million units, against a previous 0.68 million. In month-on-month terms, the estimate is -3.5%, after a previous reading of 6.4%.

The previous values behind the estimates

Headline durable goods orders were unchanged at 0% in the previous report, and the estimate for September is 1.5%. That is the largest estimate among the three durable goods rows, and it sits above the 0.6% estimate for the measure excluding transportation.

The measure excluding defense was 0.1% before, and the estimate of 0% would be slightly lower. The measure excluding transportation was 0.3% before, and the estimate of 0.6% would be higher. These are the numbers that the first release at 12:30 UTC will be set against.

In housing, the previous new home sales level was 0.68 million, after a monthly rise of 6.4%. The estimate of 0.65 million and the monthly estimate of -3.5% both point to a smaller figure than last time. The 14:00 UTC release will show whether that expectation holds.

Why it matters

The durable goods and housing figures arrive on a day when equity indices in the US and Japan are higher. Market participants use such releases to judge how the US economy is performing in business investment and housing. The data also feeds into views on growth, which in turn can affect equity valuations and currency pairs such as EUR/USD.

The gap between the headline durable goods estimate of 1.5% and the 0.6% estimate excluding transportation shows that the two measures are expected to differ. Transportation items are the difference between them. The 0% estimate excluding defense is a third reference point, because it removes military orders from the headline total.

For the housing market, new home sales are a timely indicator of demand because they count contracts signed rather than completed. The estimate of 0.65 million is below the previous 0.68 million. The euro's small decline against the dollar, at 0.17%, comes before these releases, and EUR/USD often reacts to US data because it can change views on US economic strength.

What to watch next

The first scheduled event is the durable goods package at 12:30 UTC. The three readings to follow are the headline figure with its 1.5% estimate, the figure excluding transportation with its 0.6% estimate, and the figure excluding defense with its 0% estimate. The previous values were 0%, 0.3% and 0.1% respectively.

At 14:00 UTC, the new home sales release follows. The level of sales will be set against the 0.65 million estimate and the previous 0.68 million. The monthly change will be set against the -3.5% estimate and the previous 6.4%.

Market reaction to both releases can be followed in EUR/USD, which stands at 1.1160 this morning, and in the US equity indices, which closed Monday at 7676.77 for the S&P 500 and 29273.4 for the Nasdaq 100. The Italian market opens at 09:00 Rome time. Those sessions will show how markets respond to the data after Monday's gains.