Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Fall, Gold Sets New Record High as US Government Shuts Down

Q4 Begins After Strong Q3 for Stock Indexes

1 hr 11 min ago

Stock investors are hoping the fourth quarter, which begins today, goes a lot like the third.

Major stock indexes registered robust gains in Q3, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq soaring 11.2%, the benchmark S&P 500 adding 7.8%, and the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average advancing 5.2%.

The indexes were aided by an unusually strong September, with the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq gaining 5.6%, 3.5%, and 1.9%, respectively.

For the year, the Nasdaq has soared 17.3%, the S&P 500 has jumped 13.7%, and the Dow has increased 9.1%.

Stocks Have Had a Big 2025. Should You Buy Into the ‘Most Wonderful Time’ of the Year?

1 hr 39 min ago

It’s been a good year for U.S. stocks so far. Some experts are calling for an even stronger finish.

An uncharacteristically strong September—the month with a reputation as the worst for stocks—saw the S&P 500 add 3.5% after logging a series of fresh highs, bringing the benchmark index up close to 14% year-to-date. That, some say, could be a bullish signal about the next three months.

The end to a trading year is generally seen as an upbeat time for traders, who sometimes cite adages—and the history that underpins them—as reason for optimism. (The most important motto, however, might be the reminder that “past performance does not guarantee future results.”)

Over the last 76 years, when the S&P 500 climbed in the first nine months of the year, investors saw gains in the fourth quarter roughly 89% of the time. And when the benchmark index hit records in September, according to LPL Financial, that number got even higher, creeping over 90%.

The index has logged an average return of 2.9% in the last three months of the year going back to 1928, Bank of America analysts recently wrote, better than any other quarter. Q4, the analysts wrote, is historically the “most wonderful time of the year for stocks.”

That period tends to kick off with a comparatively slow October—the month has posted negative returns about 40% of the time since 1928, according to BofA—followed by a stronger November.

Read the full article here.

–Kara Greenberg

Stock Futures Fall as US Government Shuts Down

1 hr 55 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.4%.

S&P 500 futures were 0.5% lower.

Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.5%.