“`html
On Thursday, the S&P 500 Index closed up by 0.06%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.17%, and the Nasdaq 100 increased by 0.37%. This marks new all-time highs for both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, while the Dow reached a one-week high. The positive momentum was primarily driven by gains in chip makers and AI-infrastructure stocks amid ongoing investor interest in artificial intelligence, even as the U.S. government experienced a shutdown for a second day.
The shutdown has delayed the release of key government reports, including weekly jobless claims and upcoming inflation data, raising concerns about potential furloughs that could impact 640,000 federal workers and push the unemployment rate to 4.7%. Additionally, a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed that U.S. employers announced plans to cut 946,426 jobs from January to September, the highest figure for the same period since 2020.
Market expectations for a Fed rate cut at the next FOMC meeting on October 28-29 stand at 98%. The focus this week will be on potential trade or tariff news, with September nonfarm payroll figures anticipated to show an increase of 51,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate is expected to remain stable at 4.3%.
“`
