FX.co ★ Dow, S&P 500 Pare Gains, Nasdaq Turns Lower

In the afternoon trading session, U.S. stock markets showed mixed performance while maintaining momentum for a strong weekly close, even amidst a third day of government shutdown. The S&P 500 remained close to its starting level, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged over 300 points, momentarily breaching its all-time high of 47,000, and the Nasdaq Composite decreased by 0.6%. Downward pressure in the afternoon was attributed to leading technology companies, with Palantir Technologies significantly impacting the S&P 500 as its shares fell by 7.7%. Additionally, Tesla and Nvidia shared losses of 3% and 1%, respectively. Applied Materials saw a 2.7% decline, largely due to a $600 million revenue reduction linked to restrictions on semiconductor exports. Investors were especially attentive to the impact of the government shutdown, which not only postponed the release of the September jobs report but also caused an absence of economic data just ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting scheduled for October. Meanwhile, private reports suggested a cooling labor market, affirming the anticipation of an upcoming Fed interest rate cut within the month. Despite these challenges, all three major indexes showed promising weekly progress, with the S&P 500 increasing by 1.1%, the Dow Jones by 1%, and the Nasdaq by 0.5%.