Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Open Down; Government Shutdown; Gold Price Rises; Bitcoin Climbs; Nike, Nvidia, Tesla, Strategy, and More Movers
The government shutdown has barely dented the stock market.
The Dow was down just 11 points and moving in and out of positive territory on Wednesday. It closed at a record on Tuesday. The S&P 500 was down just 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.1%.
The yield on the 2-year Treasury note was down to 3.56%, while the 10-year yield was down to 4.11%. Bond yields dropped after ADP said the U.S. economy lost 32,000 private jobs in September and 3,000 in August.
The numbers sent odds of an October rate cut to 100%, while odds of at least half-point cut through the end of the year further solidified at 89.8%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
After ignoring the threat of a U.S. government shutdown in recent weeks, Wall Street shrugged off the actual event. Stocks have averaged a gain of 0.05% during past shutdowns, and gains have actually been stronger during periods where the shutdown drags on longer.
“The prospect of a shutdown has been well known for weeks now, and betting markets were pricing in a near certainty of one yesterday, so if markets really were concerned and there was even a bit of truth to the Efficient Market Hypothesis, the S&P 500 wouldn’t have traded up 0.4% yesterday,” writes Bespoke Investment Group co-founder Paul Hickey. “So, why is the market lower? There could be multiple reasons, and the fact that it’s the first day of a new quarter, when investors rebalance their holdings, could be one of them.”
