Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Flat; Government Shutdown; Nike, Nvidia, Tesla, Strategy, and More Movers
The stock market was back on record watch as Wall Street shrugged off the government shutdown.
The Dow was up 105 points, or 0.2%, after trading lower earlier in the morning. Any move higher would be a fresh record. The S&P 500 was up 0.1% and hovering right around its Sept. 22 closing high. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.1%.
The yield on the 2-year Treasury note was down to 3.57%, while the 10-year yield was down to 4.12%. 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.
