US stock futures struggled on Thursday as investors absorbed the end of the longest government shutdown in US history, weighing its impact on the economy and the path of interest rates.
Contracts on the S&P 500 (ES=F) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) slipped 0.1% and 0.2% respectively. Meanwhile, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) held steady, coming off a second record close in a row for the blue-chip benchmark as it topped 48,000 for the first time.
A bill ending the record-setting 43-day US federal shutdown was signed by President Trump into law after the House passed the bill in a 222-209 vote on Wednesday evening.
The stoppage has shaken financial markets and is estimated to have long-reaching effects, with an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office suggested that US GDP could be roughly $11 billion lower by the end of 2026.
But Wall Street’s questions about the economy are set to persist, after the White House said reports delayed by the closure “will be permanently impaired” and will likely never be released. Data on inflation and the jobs market in October are the key updates set to be skipped.
That uncertainty about the economic outlook is complicating calculations for the chances of interest-rate cuts in December and next year, as it could impact the Federal Reserve’s thinking in the run-up to next month’s meeting.
On the corporate front, results from Disney (DIS) are due before the bell on Thursday, as earnings season winds down.
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