Stock futures are little changed after both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closed lower after retreating from fresh all-time highs in Thursday’s session.
S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were trading up less than 0.1%, while futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 40 points, or 0.08%.
The federal government shutdown dragged into its ninth day on Thursday, after the Senate failed for a seventh time to pass a stop-gap funding proposal. There are few signs that Republicans and Democrats are making progress on negotiations.
With the stalemate continuing, investors are struggling to find catalysts due to a lack of economic data from the U.S. government. Earnings reports on Thursday from companies like Delta Air Lines and PepsiCo were positive and offered some sense of consumer demand. However, it wasn’t enough to sustain a rally in stocks on Thursday.
Instead, the broad market index dropped 0.28% to close at 6,735.11, while the tech-heavy index slid 0.08% to finish at 23,024.63. At their highs of the day, the S&P 500 added 0.2%, and the Nasdaq was up 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, declined 243.36 points, or 0.52%, to close at 46,358.42.
At the moment, both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq could eke out small gains for the week of 0.3% and 1.1%, respectively. The 30-stock Dow, however, is pacing for a 0.9% drop.
Declines in the Dow would we steeper if not for Nvidia regaining some momentum this week. After CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC that computing demand has “gone up substantially” this year, the stock has regained some momentum. Shares have logged a 2.6% gain week to date.
“Markets are trying to balance a few things because we are navigating a little blind because of the government shutdown,” Fundstrat’s Tom Lee said Thursday on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”
However, earnings season is set to begin in earnest next week, with several banks such as Citigroup and JPMorgan slated to post their third-quarter results. Data on U.S. consumer sentiment is scheduled to be released Friday morning at 10 a.m. ET.
