Dow Jones Today: Stock Futures Mostly Higher as Investors Downplay Government Shutdown

Government Shutdown Leaves Fed Without Data at Crucial Moment

33 minutes ago

The federal government shutdown will delay key reports on the job market and inflation, making it harder for officials to decide whether to cut interest rates later this month.

The shutdown affects the government agencies that produce data the Fed relies on to set interest rates. That includes the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which will “completely cease operations” in the event of a shutdown, according to a memo dated Sept. 26 from its parent agency, the Department of Labor. The bureau produces the most comprehensive and widely watched measures of the job market and inflation, including a highly anticipated monthly jobs report due Friday that will now be delayed.

The lack of job market data could be especially vexing for the Fed, which cut interest rates in September to lower borrowing costs and stabilize a shaky job market. The Fed is scheduled to meet Oct. 28 and 29, and its policy officials are divided about whether to cut rates in the coming months, or keep them higher to tame inflation.

“[A prolonged shutdown] would greatly complicate the Federal Reserve’s deliberations on whether to cut interest rates again at its October … policy meeting,” Nationwide economists Kathy Bostjancic and Oren Klachkin wrote in a commentary.

Read the full article here.

–Diccon Hyatt

Stock Futures Point Mostly Higher as Investors Downplay Government Shutdown

54 minutes ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.1%.

S&P 500 futures were up 0.2%.

Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.4%.