US close: Stocks inch higher to fresh records despite government impasse

2nd Oct 2025 22:23

(Sharecast News) - US stock markets finished a choppy day of trading with marginal gains, but they were still enough to send Wall Street indices to new records.

The ongoing government shutdown in Washington DC kept a lid on risk appetite, with trading rangebound for most of the session owing to political uncertainty.

However, the Dow rose 0.2% to 46,519.72, the S&P 500 gained 0.1% to 6,715.35, while the Nasdaq was 0.4% higher at 22,844.05 - with all three indices setting new closing highs.

Nevertheless, the absence of a sell-off has shown that investors have largely shrugged off concerns about the shutdown, which began after midnight on Tuesday with both sides continuing to trade blame over the impasse.

"Traders have long memories: government shutdowns are noisy sideshows, more circus than substance, and the tape knows it," said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management. "Yet beneath the ticker-tape, there's a hesitation in the steps - forward motion, but not a full sprint, as if the market senses that the music could stop mid-bar."

The attention now turns to how long the stalemate will last. With the Senate out of session on Thursday for Yom Kippur, the earliest lawmakers were expected to reconvene was Friday. Prediction markets suggest the shutdown could stretch for nearly two weeks.

The shutdown has also triggered a data blackout, with the Labor Department suspending most activity, including Thursday's jobless claims and Friday's non-farm payrolls report. In the latter's absence, Wednesday's ADP private payrolls data, which showed a decline in hiring, has taken on greater significance.

One of the few economic data releases that still went ahead was the non-governmental Challenger jobs report, which showed that US employers cut 54,064 jobs in September - the lowest monthly total in three months and down 25.8% year-on-year.

However, over the year-to-date, US companies have announced 946,426 job cuts, the highest total since 2020 and the fifth largest in the past 36 years. The government sector accounted for the bulk of reductions, with 299,755 cuts, including 289,363 federal roles affected by DOGE.

Market movers

Holding company Berkshire Hathaway announced that it is to purchase Occidental Petroleum's chemical business, OxyChem, for $9.7bn in its biggest acquisition in three years. In a statement, Occidental said it would use $6.5bn of the proceeds to reduce debt, but that didn't stop the stock from dropping more than 7%.

Credit-checking companies TransUnion and Equifax sank on the news that FICO had launched a direct licence programme, allowing mortgage lenders to calculate and distribute FICO credit scores directly to borrowers. FICO, otherwise known as Fair Isaac Corporation, jumped 18%.

Chip stocks were performing well as sentiment across the sector was lifted by a share sale by OpenAI which valued the ChatGPT maker at $500bn. A massive deal struck between Samsung, SK Hynix and OpenAI's Stargate initiative was also seen as a catalyst for buying, with shares in Nvidia and Broadcom both rising.

Dow Jones - Risers

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $23.66 2.78%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $488.56 2.03%

3M Co. (MMM) $157.90 1.79%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $353.41 1.56%

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $239.23 1.35%

Boeing Co. (BA) $217.93 1.04%

Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $278.48 1.01%

American Express Co. (AXP) $330.21 0.58%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $74.35 0.50%

International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $286.04 0.08%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $66.00 -1.02%

JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $307.38 -1.02%

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $43.47 -0.98%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $154.03 -0.78%

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $780.06 -0.78%

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $152.29 -0.74%

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $112.10 -0.72%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $88.81 -0.69%

Visa Inc. (V) $345.90 -0.54%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $395.71 -0.51%

S&P 500 - Risers

Celanese Corp. (CE) $44.85 6.99%

CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $6.37 5.11%

Humana Inc. (HUM) $253.96 3.99%

CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $89.86 3.95%

Eastman Chemical Co. (EMN) $63.96 3.89%

Kohls Corp. (KSS) $16.43 3.86%

Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $86.99 3.72%

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) $40.15 3.34%

NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $166.46 3.33%

Centene Corp. (CNC) $36.88 3.02%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Equifax Inc. (EFX) $235.96 -8.47%

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) $44.00 -7.31%

AES Corp. (AES) $14.69 -7.03%

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) $45.99 -3.58%

Coterra Energy Inc. (CTRA) $23.20 -3.38%

FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) $38.83 -3.37%

Arista Networks Inc. (ANET) $143.84 -3.22%

AbbVie Inc (ABBV) $238.72 -3.20%

Edison International (EIX) $54.27 -3.18%

PVH Corp. (PVH) $82.41 -2.89%