U.S. stock futures advanced on Friday following Thursday’s record advances. Futures of major benchmark indices were higher.
Wall Street was unfazed by the shutdown as the AI-led optimism led the markets higher, even as most S&P 500 sectors declined on Thursday, information technology and communication services advanced.
The next opportunity to hold a vote on a government shutdown will be later today, as the chamber was out on Thursday in observance of Yom Kippur.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump once again floated the idea of issuing rebate checks to Americans funded by the hundreds of billions of dollars in tariff revenue imposed by his administration.
When asked about what he intends to do with all this money, Trump said that his priority is paying down the nation’s massive debt. He added that “We also might make a distribution to the people,” describing the plan as “a dividend to the people of America.”
The 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.09% and the two-year bond was at 3.55%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing a 97.8% likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting the current interest rates in its October meeting.
| Futures | Change (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | 0.24% |
| S&P 500 | 0.25% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 0.26% |
| Russell 2000 | 0.42% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, rose in premarket on Friday. The SPY was up 0.30% at $671.23, while the QQQ advanced 0.32% to $607.69, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Cues From Last Session
Sectors with the biggest losses on Thursday included energy, consumer discretionary, and real estate, with most on the S&P 500 closing in the red. However, materials and information technology stocks bucked the trend, helping U.S. stocks settle higher as the S&P 500 hit a new record, with investors shrugging off government shutdown concerns.
Pushing its market capitalization to a record $4.6 trillion, Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) rose around 1%, extending its winning streak to a sixth consecutive session. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) surged 3.5% after Semafor reports suggested Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) may add AMD as a foundry customer. Intel shares advanced 2.2%, on track for their highest close since April 2024.
The Dow Jones index ended 79 points or 0.17% higher at 46,519.72, whereas the S&P 500 index rose 0.062% to 6,715.35. Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.39% to 22,844.05, and the small-cap gauge, Russell 2000, gained 0.66% to end at 2,458.49.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Nasdaq Composite | 0.39% | 22,844.05 |
| S&P … |