Government Shutdown, Government Shmutdown

Market Performance - Market indexes remained stable despite the federal government shutdown and a negative private-sector payroll report from ADP [1][7] - The Dow gained +43 points (+0.09%), the S&P 500 crossed 6700 for the first time (+22 points or +0.34%), and the Nasdaq rose +95 points (+0.42%) to a new high of 22,755 [3] - The small-cap Russell 2000 gained +5 points (+0.24%) but is still below its all-time highs from September 18 [3] AI and Tech Sector - NVIDIA became the first company to reach a $4.5 trillion market cap, with its stock continuing to rise [1] - The momentum from the AI trade is currently a significant market catalyst, overshadowing economic concerns [7] Gold Market - Gold prices reached record highs at $3895 per troy ounce, reflecting a +45% gain year to date, with intraday highs of $3915 [2] Manufacturing and Economic Data - ADP reported a loss of -32,000 private-sector jobs last month, while ISM Manufacturing and S&P Manufacturing PMI numbers for September were in line with expectations [4] - ISM Manufacturing came in at +49.1%, up 40 basis points from August, while S&P remained steady at +52.0 [4] - Construction spending data for August was delayed due to the federal shutdown, with analysts forecasting a drop to -0.2% [5] Future Expectations - The stock market is expected to have limited movement due to the federal shutdown affecting the release of Weekly Jobless Claims and Factory Orders data [6]