The U.S. government shuts down after stocks end September buzzing

The U.S. government has shut down.

Around 750,000 federal employees— including those in the Bureau of Labor Statistics — might be furloughed, according to the Congressional Budget Office. If that happens, September’s jobs report will not be released as scheduled on Friday, leaving the Federal Reserve and investors in the dark about the state of the U.S. labor market.

While the shutdown was only confirmed around 9 a.m. Singapore time (9 p.m. ET), it appeared imminent during trading hours Tuesday. But markets seemed to shrug off such concerns, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average even hitting a new high.

Shares of Nvidia also closed at a record, which pushed the company past a $4.5 trillion market cap, while CoreWeave stock jumped nearly 12% on an artificial intelligence infrastructure agreement with Meta.

Indeed, the flurry of AI deals announced during the month, with OpenAI at the center of many of them, turbocharged the stock market. In September, the S&P 500 added more than 3%, blowing past its historical average of a 4.2% fall for the month.  

While the U.S. government has been put to sleep as September ended, investors, hopefully, had their eyes peeled during the month.

The U.S. government shuts down. That’s the result of Republicans and Democrats failing to reach a deal to pass a stopgap funding bill. Catch the latest updates on the government shutdown on CNBC’s live blog.

Berkshire Hathaway reportedly eyeing $10 billion deal. Warren Buffett’s conglomerate is reaching a deal to buy OxyChem, Occidental Petroleum’s petrochemical unit, according to The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. If finalized, it’d be Berkshire’s biggest deal since 2022.

India holds interest rates steady. The Reserve Bank of India kept rates at 5.5% Wednesday, as expected by a Reuters poll of economists. June’s half-point cut hasn’t filtered through the economy, the RBI’s governor said.

U.S. stocks end September higher. Major stock indexes rose Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at a record. Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank after a survey of business sentiment came in lower than expected.

[PRO] Barclays’ picks for UK stocks. London’s FTSE 100 has outperformed the S&P 500 and the pan-European Stoxx 600 year to date. Barclays, in a Sept. 30 note, named its “best ideas” to play this market.

Russia has become a permanent security threat to Europe, Luxembourg PM says

Europe is not at war with Russia, but it needs to take its threats seriously, Luxembourg’s head of state told CNBC Tuesday in an exclusive interview.

A number of European nations have flagged new Russian threats in recent weeks. It has led some European officials, including the EU’s Commissioner for Economic Affairs Valdis Dombrovskis, to say Europe is already in a “hybrid war” with Russia.

— Silvia Amaro