Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 1, 2025. <\/p>\n
NYSE<\/p>\n
The S&P 500 hit a new record on Friday as Wall Street headed for solid weekly gains even with a U.S. government shutdown dragging on.<\/p>\n
The S&P 500<\/a> advanced 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite<\/a> hovered around the flatline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/a> traded 285 points higher, or 0.6%. The Nasdaq and Dow also scored fresh all-time intraday highs in addition to the S&P 500.<\/p>\n With Friday’s gains, the three major averages are pacing for a positive weekly finish. The broad market S&P 500 has risen more than 1% week to date, along with the 30-stock Dow, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is up around 1% in the period.<\/p>\n The government shutdown entered its third day Friday and has exacerbated investors’ underlying concerns this year about macroeconomic and policy headwinds, inflation risks and a slowing labor market. Investors are waiting to see how long the shutdown will persist to gauge the seriousness of its economic repercussions. Shutdowns have not been market-moving events in the past.<\/p>\n The shutdown has led to an economic data blackout, and the Labor Department’s pause on virtually all activity has blocked the Friday release of the September nonfarm payrolls report<\/a>. While that removes a factor<\/a> that could lend pressure to stocks, it simultaneously lessens the amount of economic data the Federal Reserve can factor into its interest rate decision at its October meeting.<\/p>\n “Markets and policymakers have been looking for evidence of whether the labor market was continuing to cool gradually, or whether the slowdown was sharper than expected,” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate. “This fresh gap in knowledge is significant at a time when clarity matters most.”<\/p>\n “If the shutdown continues, data collection for the October jobs report (survey week around October 12) is at risk,” he also said. “Mid-month inflation reports, critical to assessing the Fed’s path, may also be disrupted. That compounds the uncertainty.”<\/p>\n Stoking ongoing concerns about the jobs market, President Donald Trump has threatened massive layoffs and said Thursday the Democrats have given him an “unprecedented opportunity<\/a>” to cut federal agencies. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also told CNBC<\/a>\u00a0Thursday that the current lapse in federal funding could lead to “a hit to the GDP, a hit to growth and a hit to working America.” The Congressional Budget Office estimates 750,000 federal workers will be furloughed each day<\/a>.<\/p>\n