Wall Street yawns at DC's looming shutdown as the Dow sets another
record
[October 01, 2025] By
STAN CHOE
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks coasted to the finish of their latest
winning month on Tuesday, as Wall Street yawned at the potential
shutdown of the U.S. federal government that’s looming.
The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to close out its fifth straight winning month
after setting a record last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
gained 81 points, or 0.2%, to set its own all-time high, and the Nasdaq
composite ticked 0.3% higher.
The quiet trading came as a midnight deadline approached, when the U.S.
government could shut down because of Washington’s latest political
impasse. That’s because history has shown that past shutdowns have had
limited impact on the economy and stock market, and many economists and
professional investors expect something similar this time around.
The S&P 500 has climbed an average of 4.4% during past shutdowns and is
positive over the last five, according to Monica Guerra, head of U.S.
policy at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.
What could make this shutdown different, though, is that the White House
may push for large-scale firings of federal workers.
The broad stock market has been on a nearly relentless run since hitting
a low in April on expectations that President Donald Trump’s tariffs
won’t derail global trade and that the Federal Reserve will cut interest
rates several times to boost the slowing job market.
Treasury yields wavered in the bond market but ultimately held
relatively steady following mixed reports on the U.S. economy. One said
consumers are feeling less confident than economists expected, with many
respondents in the Conference Board’s survey pointing to the job market
and to inflation that has remained higher than anyone would like.
A second report suggested the job market may be remaining in its
“low-hire, low-fire” state. U.S. employers were advertising roughly the
same number of job openings at the end of August as the month before.
The hope on Wall Street had been for a number that’s neither too high
nor too low, one balanced enough to keep the Fed on track to continue
cutting interest rates.
The Fed just delivered its first cut of the year, and officials have
penciled in more to give the job market a boost. But too-strong data on
jobs could make the Fed less willing to cut rates, which would
strengthen criticism that the U.S. stock market has become too expensive
after prices ran so high. Too-weak numbers, meanwhile, could signal a
coming recession, which would also hurt stock prices.
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 When Wall Street will get the next
data reports on the job market is uncertain, though. A shutdown of
the federal government would cause delays for several important
reports, including Friday’s on how many jobs U.S. employers created
and destroyed in September.
That could make Wall Street more twitchy when investors are already
nervous about the state of the economy and what that means for the
potential for cuts to rates. The Department of Labor has already
said that the Bureau of Labor Statistics will completely cease
operations if there’s a lapse.
On Wall Street, CoreWeave jumped 11.7% after saying Meta Platforms
will pay up to $14.2 billion for a new order for cloud computing
power made under its existing service agreement, with the potential
for more.
Lamb Weston climbed 4.3% after the supplier of frozen French fries
and other potato products reported a stronger profit for the latest
quarter than analysts expected.
On the losing end of Wall Street was Spotify Technology, which sank
4.2%. The Stockholm-based streaming giant said its founder, Daniel
Ek, is stepping down as CEO to become the executive chairman. Two of
his lieutenants will replace him as co-CEOs: Chief Product and
Technology Officer Gustav Söderström and Chief Business Officer Alex
Norström.
Oil-related companies weighed on the market as the price of crude
fell again as traders see too much oil washing around the world.
Baker Hughes sank 3.6%, and Schlumberger fell 2.1%.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 27.25 points to 6,688.46. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average added 81.82 to 46,397.89, and the Nasdaq
composite climbed 68.86 to 22,660.01.
In stock markets abroad, indexes ticked higher in Europe following a
mixed finish in Asia.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at
4.15%, where it was late Monday.
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AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.
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