By US stocks declined on Friday as investors weighed concerns about the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path and a potential government shutdown.
While the broader stock market decline began on Wednesday following the Fed’s hawkish interest rate cut, it accelerated into Friday amid concerns of an imminent government shutdown.
Congress has until midnight on Friday to pass a deal to avert a shutdown.
While Congress had a stopgap funding bill in place a few days ago, President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk torpedoed it, complaining about unnecessary spending measures within the bill.
A second attempt to pass a government funding bill endorsed by Trump failed in the House of Representatives late Thursday evening, with a final vote of 174 for and 235 against.
Since that vote failed, Trump endorsed a government shutdown in a post to Truth Social Friday morning.
“If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under “TRUMP.” This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!” Trump said.
Trump also endorsed the elimination of the debt ceiling or extending a pause of the debt ceiling to 2029, when his second term ends.
Today could also be volatile for stocks because it is the quarterly “triple-witching” day, during which about $6.5 trillion worth of options tied to stocks and ETFs will expire.
Here’s where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Friday:
- S&P 500: 5,858.55, down 0.15%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 42,317.83, down 0.06% (-24.41 points)
- Nasdaq composite: 19,272.80, down 0.52%
Here’s what else is going on:
- The Fed is the only thing standing between investors and a full-blown stock market bubble.
- Here is a complete rundown of Wall Street’s 2025 S&P 500 targets.
- History says getting out of the stock market now could be a major mistake.
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil declined 0.78% to $68.84 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was lower by 0.69% to $72.38 a barrel.
- Gold was higher by 0.86% to $2,630.40 an ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury yield dropped 7 basis points to 4.508%.
- Bitcoin declined 2.07% to $95,362.
