Dow, S&P 500 manage record closing highs; Nasdaq falls in volatile session

Dow, S&P 500 manage record closing highs; Nasdaq falls in volatile session

By Reuters

Fri October 3, 2025 5:24 PM

In the third day of the shutdown, the resulting analysis paralysis is working to the market’s favor as, even though there was no jobs report today, the assumption of a continuing weakening labor force only bolstered the case for more rate cuts, another example of bad news taken as good news. An October cut is now virtually certain while the odds of a December cut are at a whopping 84%. All three indexes were up in the morning, the Dow up some 530 points by 1 pm, before declining to a much more modest close but still in the black.  

The Nasdaq was the exception, going well into the red after 1 pm.  Nonetheless, investors continue to shrug off the shutdown over continued optimism on rate cuts and this shot both the Dow and S&P to new records, even if the S&P closed at only less than a ½ point gain. The ISM report showed that services employment fell for the fourth month. For the week all three indexes advanced from 1.1 to 1.3%. Volume at 20.47 billion was above the 19.01 average. 

DJ: 46,519.72  +78.62       NAS: 22,844.05  +88.89       S&P: 6,715.35  +4.15        10/2

DJ: 46,758.28  +238.56     NAS: 22,780.51  -63.54        S&P: 6,715.79  +0.44        10/3

Fri 10-3-25 5:24 pm Dow, S&P 500 manage record closing highs; Nasdaq falls in volatile session | Reuters