The stock market was back at record levels on Wednesday as Wall Street shrugged off the government shutdown and some weak private sector jobs data.
The S&P 500 rallied 0.3% after opening lower to hit its 29th record close of 2025. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 43 points, or 0.1%, to set a fresh closing high. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4% to move back within striking distance of its Sept. 22 closing high.
Stocks opened lower, which led some to attribute the weakness to the start of the government shutdown. Bespoke Investment Group co-founder Paul Hickey was incredulous.
“The prospect of a shutdown has been well known for weeks now, and betting markets were pricing in a near certainty of one yesterday, so if markets really were concerned and there was even a bit of truth to the Efficient Market Hypothesis, the S&P 500 wouldn’t have traded up 0.4% yesterday,” Hickey wrote.
He attributed early market weakness to other factors, including the fact that investors often rebalance their holdings around the start of a new quarter. The S&P has actually done well during past government shutdowns, gaining 0.1% on any that lasted five days or more, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Treasury bond prices rose, meaning their yields fell, after ADP said the U.S. economy lost 32,000 private jobs in September. August’s tally was revised to show a decline of 3,000 jobs. Odds of a rate cut later this month hit 100% in the wake of the report, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. For the next two meetings, odds of at least a half-point in cuts rose to 87.6% from 77.3% prior to the report.
The longer the government shutdown rolls on, the longer central bankers and traders will need to rely on private data from firms like ADP. Other than that, Wall Street doesn’t see any reason to pay the shutdown any mind. At least for now.