Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Futures Edge Up Despite Gov’t Shutdown

U.S. stock futures edged higher on Thursday as Wall Street’s renewed confidence that the Federal Reserve will cut rates further this year outweighed concerns about the ongoing government shutdown, Amalya Dubrovsky reported for Yahoo Finance.

Stocks fluctuated throughout Wednesday’s session but ultimately closed in positive territory, with both the Dow and the S&P 500 notching record highs. (Photo: New York Stock Exchange Facebook)

Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered near the flatline, while contracts tied to the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 0.1%.

Stocks fluctuated throughout Wednesday’s session but ultimately closed in positive territory, with both the Dow and the S&P 500 notching record highs. Weak ADP jobs data confirmed signs of a labor market slowdown, reinforcing bets that the Fed will push ahead with rate cuts despite persistent inflation.

So far, the disappointing jobs numbers have distracted markets from the government shutdown, which is expected to last at least through the end of the week.

On Wednesday, the Senate again rejected both Republican and Democratic funding bills.

The chamber is in recess Thursday in observance of Yom Kippur, making Friday the next opportunity to hold a vote.

In the meantime, Republicans are pressuring Democrats to reopen the government first and negotiate later over healthcare subsidies at the heart of the standoff.

Democrats insist on resolving the subsidies before approving any funding. Reports suggest that a bipartisan group of lawmakers has begun very preliminary discussions about a potential offramp to the crisis.