Stock Market Live September 30: S&P 500 (VOO) Ascent Pauses as Investors Await Shutdown
By
Joel South
Sep 30, 2025 | Updated 9:13 AM ET
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Key Points
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Start the shutdown clock. Absent Congressional action, the US government will shut down in less than 15 hours.
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The Department of Labor will stop issuing jobs reports if that happens. Speaking of which, Paychex just reported strong earnings as it begins its fiscal 2026.
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It’s Tuesday, September 30 — and the U.S. government is about to run out of money.
Unless Congress passes a new continuing resolution by the end of the day, the government will “shut down” at midnight, causing turmoil in the economy. Not the smallest threat, President Trump has threatened to fire a certain number of federal workers if a shutdown happened, adding to unemployment. Investors are holding their breath waiting to see what happens, and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) is retreating 0.1% premarket.
Adding to the uncertainty, CNBC reports this morning that if a shutdown does happen, the government will cease issuing certain data that investors depend upon to gauge the health of the economy, Friday’s scheduled payrolls report for September, for example. And of course, the absence of jobs reports will make it harder to calculate unemployment trends and, by extension, gauge the likelihood of a second Federal Reserve interest rates cut in October.
Long story short, the market hates uncertainty, and things could get a whole lot less certain really, really soon.
Earnings
In earnings news, United Natural Foods (Nasdaq: UNFI) beat earnings by a nickel this morning, reporting a fiscal Q4 2025 loss of $0.11 per share where analysts were expecting a 16-cent loss. Revenue was also better than expected at $7.7 billion.
Rounding out the good news, United Natural Foods forecast fiscal 2026 earnings per share of $1.50-$2.30, versus the consensus of $1.46. Good earnings news plus good guidance has United Natural Foods stock trading up nearly 6% this morning.
Payroll processor Paychex (Nasdaq: PAYX) also reported earnings this morning, beating by two cents with a $1.22 per share fiscal Q1 2026 profit. Revenue matched analyst forecasts at $1.54. Paychex forecast adjusted earnings growth between 9% and 11% this year, and investors seem disappointed with that number, though.
Paychex stock is down more than 5% premarket.