Fed FOMC Decision 28 Oct 2026: Time in IST

The Federal Reserve has already printed the October decision clock, which is why this search can be answered without a rumour. The Federal Open Market Committee meets on Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 October 2026. The Board’s October calendar puts the decision at 2:00 p.m. Eastern on 28 October, with the chair’s press conference at 2:30 p.m. Eastern the same day. In IST that decision falls at 23:30 on Wednesday 28 October, and the press conference starts at midnight at the beginning of Thursday 29 October. This is not a meeting that includes a new Summary of Economic Projections. The Fed’s calendar marks projection meetings with an asterisk; October does not have one. September and December do.

Verification note: federalreserve.gov FOMC calendars and the October 2026 Board calendar. The 2:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. labels are on that October calendar. The funds-rate level going into the meeting is whatever the Committee last set; this page does not restate a rate as if October had already decided, and it does not predict the vote.

Why the IST date looks like Thursday

On 28 October the United States is still on daylight time. Clocks fall back on Sunday, 1 November 2026. Eastern Daylight Time is UTC−4. India is UTC+5:30, nine hours and thirty minutes ahead.

• Meeting days: 27–28 October 2026
• Statement: 14:00 EDT on 28 October = 18:00 UTC = 23:30 IST on 28 October
• Press conference: 14:30 EDT = 18:30 UTC = 00:00 IST on 29 October
• Projections and dot plot: not scheduled for this meeting
• Next scheduled meeting: 8–9 December 2026, which is a projections meeting
• There is no regular November FOMC meeting on the 2026 calendar

A headline that says “Fed day, Thursday India time” is right for the press conference and slightly wrong for the statement, which is still Wednesday night IST. Publish both timestamps. People who set one alarm for “Thursday morning” will miss the statement.

What the Committee publishes at 2:00 p.m.

The decision is a short statement: the target range for the federal funds rate, the vote, and the reasoning the Committee agrees to release. An implementation note tells the trading desk how to carry the decision out. If a member dissents, the dissent is named. Those are the documents. A television chyron is a summary of them. When the chyron and the PDF disagree, the PDF wins.

Because October is not a projections meeting, there is no new dot plot and no new set of GDP, unemployment, and inflation forecasts from the Committee that afternoon. Anyone who posts a fresh dot plot on 28 October is posting September’s, or inventing one. December is the next projections date on the calendar. The Beige Book, a separate anecdotal report, is on the October Board calendar for 14 October at 2:00 p.m. Eastern, which is 23:30 IST the same day. It is background for the meeting. It is not the decision.

The press conference is not a second decision

The chair answers questions at 2:30 p.m. Eastern. Markets move on the answers. The answers do not amend the statement unless the chair is correcting a misreading. If you quote a sentence, say whether it was in the statement or in the press conference. Indian viewers are watching at midnight. Clips that circulate on Thursday morning IST are recordings of that midnight hour, not a new meeting.

How this sits next to other October money dates

The Reserve Bank of India’s MPC meets on 5–7 October, three weeks earlier. The IMF and World Bank annual meetings are in Bangkok on 12–18 October. The Fed’s minutes of the previous meeting, 15–16 September, are on the October calendar for release in the first week of October; the Board calendar shows a 2:00 p.m. minutes release tied to that September meeting. Minutes describe a meeting that already happened. They are not the 28 October decision. Keep the four documents — September minutes, Beige Book, October statement, October press conference — in four buckets.

Nothing here is a trading recommendation. A decision to hold, cut, or raise is the Committee’s. This site does not sell odds on it and does not tell anyone to borrow or to trade.

How to follow the night from India

Use federalreserve.gov at 23:30 IST on 28 October. The statement appears there. The press conference is carried on the Fed’s stream and by major business networks. Start the stream before midnight IST if you want the chair from the first sentence. Ignore screenshots that lack the 28 October dateline. After the statement, the implementation note is the dull document that tells you the plumbing. It is worth opening if you publish for a treasury desk rather than for a general audience.

See why a price search spikes around macro news, another clock that people mis-convert, and a domestic rate that is not the federal funds rate. Products that display official rates need a source and a timestamp; fintech app development is the relevant service.

Four Fed documents that are not interchangeable

Early October brings the minutes of 15–16 September, on the Board calendar at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. Those minutes describe a meeting that is over. They are not a preview with legal force, and they are not the 28 October statement. Mid-month, the Beige Book is listed for 14 October at 2:00 p.m. Eastern, 23:30 IST, an anecdotal survey of regional contacts. It is colour. It is not a vote. On 28 October the statement and the implementation note are the decision, at 23:30 IST, and the press conference starts at midnight IST. December’s meeting, 8–9 December, is the next one marked for a Summary of Economic Projections. A dot plot dated 28 October is September’s chart or a fabrication.

The rate going into the meeting is the last decision the Committee published, which you should look up on the day rather than memorize from this article. This page refuses a prediction. Dissenters, if any, are named in the statement. “The Fed” as a mood is not a member. Quote the member if you are quoting a dissent, and quote the statement if you are quoting the Committee. Indian audiences who sleep through 23:30 IST will meet the press conference as a Thursday clip. Label the clip with Wednesday’s statement time so the decision and the answers do not merge into a second, imaginary meeting.

Nothing on this page is a request to trade, borrow, or move currency. Official timestamps on federalreserve.gov are the archive. A chyron is a convenience. When they differ, keep the PDF.

Eastern time on 28 October is still daylight time. The Sunday after, 1 November, is the US clock change, and it is also two days before the midterm election. Do not reuse the Fed’s EDT conversion on election night. Election Day is standard time, a different offset. The Fed week and the election week are neighbours on the calendar and strangers in the arithmetic. Write both conversions down if your site covers both, or you will send Indian readers to a press conference an hour off and to a poll close an hour off in the other direction. The October FOMC meeting itself remains 27–28 October, statement at 23:30 IST on the 28th, chair at 00:00 IST on the 29th, no dot plot, next projections meeting in December, no regular November meeting at all.

The Board’s October calendar also shows routine statistical releases on their own clocks. They are not the FOMC decision. If a data file posts on the morning of 28 October, it is not a leaked statement. The statement is the 2:00 p.m. Eastern document. Keep the calendar’s labels — minutes, Beige Book, statement, press conference — as four titles in your CMS. Collapsing them into “Fed news” is how a Beige Book anecdote gets traded as a rate decision.

FAQ

When is the October 2026 Fed decision?

2:00 p.m. US Eastern on Wednesday 28 October 2026, which is 23:30 IST the same day. The press conference is 2:30 p.m. Eastern, midnight IST at the start of 29 October.

Will there be a dot plot?

No. The Fed’s calendar does not mark October 2026 as a Summary of Economic Projections meeting. The next one listed is 8–9 December.

Is there a November meeting?

No regular November meeting is on the 2026 FOMC calendar.

Does this page predict the rate?

No. It gives the published clock and the documents that will exist at that clock.

Where is the statement posted?

On the Federal Reserve’s website at the decision time, with the press conference on the Fed’s stream.

Contact TheTriFusion if your product needs official timestamps rather than a ticker.