Dow and S&P 500 post record closing highs, Nasdaq eases

The Dow and S&P 500 registered record closing highs on Friday, with interest rate-cut expectations improving as the US government shutdown went on for a third day, while the Nasdaq eased. Shares of big tech-related names mostly fell. Shares of Applied Materials were down after the chip-equipment maker late Thursday forecast a $US600 million ($A907 million) hit to fiscal 2026 revenue.Shares of Tesla also were lower, while the S&P 500 utilities gained.The US government shutdown dragged on for a third day. Inv ...