US stocks close week mixed amid federal government shutdown

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) -The New York Stock Exchange ended the week with a mixed course as the federal government shutdown is on its third day.

The Dow was up 0.51%, or 238.56 points, to close at 46,758.28, and the S&P 500 edged up 0.01%, or 0.44 points, to 6,715.79.

On the other hand, the Nasdaq dropped 0.28%, or 63.54 points, to close at 22,780.51 points.

Despite the federal government shutdown, expectations for further interest rate cuts persisted, leading to a mixed course in the stock markets.

Meanwhile, stopgap funding bills from Democrats and Republicans that would have ended the government shutdown failed to receive sufficient votes in the Senate on Friday.

Analysts stated that the disruption to the flow of key data used by the Fed to assess the state of the economy has increased uncertainty about the course of interest rate cuts.

They noted that market participants are turning to alternative indicators, which support signs of softening in the labor market and keep interest rate cut expectations alive.

The shutdown has resulted in a blackout of economic data, with the Labor Department's decision to halt almost all of its operations preventing the September nonfarm payrolls report from being released on Friday.

While statements from Fed officials are being closely monitored, Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan stated that they should be cautious about lowering interest rates further.

Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson stated that the bank has sufficient information to fulfill its mandate.

Meanwhile, declines in major technology companies, such as Palantir Technologies, Tesla, and Nvidia, caused stocks to fall slightly during afternoon trading.

With a 7.5% decline, Palantir led the S&P 500's drop, while Tesla and Nvidia had declines of over 1.4% and almost 0.7%, respectively.