Weekly Stock Market Update | Dow, S&P 500, NASDAQ News – October 05, 2025

This week, the U.S. stock market experienced record highs despite the ongoing government shutdown. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose approximately 1.1%, reaching the 47,000 mark for the first time. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures also gained around 0.1% each. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite completed their fourth weekly advance in five weeks, increasing by 1.1% and 1.3% respectively.

Investors largely disregarded concerns about the government shutdown, focusing instead on the promise of artificial intelligence. OpenAI’s valuation reached $500 billion, making it the world’s most valuable startup. Key AI collaborations such as that between Hitachi LTD and OpenAI on energy projects and the extension of Fujitsu’s work with Nvidia bolstered optimism.

Healthcare stocks were the strongest performers of the week. Danaher soared more than 16%, and Eli Lilly saw an almost 16% increase following President Trump’s pharmaceutical tariff exemption deal.

Laggards included key technology companies such as Palantir Technologies, Tesla, and Nvidia, which saw decreases of 7.5%, more than 1%, and nearly 1%, respectively. This led to the S&P 500’s slight pullback and a 0.3% decline in the Nasdaq Composite, largely due to Tesla’s fall.

The government shutdown led to an economic data blackout, disrupting the release of key financial data such as the September jobs report. It also brings uncertainties to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision forthcoming in October.

Despite the ongoing shutdown, strong market performance is expected to continue. The government shutdown has typically not been a market-moving event in the past, further supporting expectations for market resilience.

Despite uncertainty fueled by a government shutdown, US stock markets achieved record highs this week with a surge in tech and cryptocurrency stock performance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average registered a recent fresh record closing high, while the S&P 500 closed above 6,700 for the first time. The Nasdaq Composite continued to outperform due to a rally in semiconductors. Nvidia became the first company to hit a $4.5 trillion market value, while AI firm OpenAI’s valuation soared to $500 billion, ousting Elon Musk’s SpaceX as the world’s most valuable start-up. Emerging market stocks are also performing strongly, with China’s large-cap stocks up 36% in 2025.

Amid these record-breaking gains, gold and bitcoin continue to rally and are favored trades by retail investors. Specifically, crypto stocks including Coinbase (up 21%), Riot Platforms (up 11%), Mara Holdings (up 15.7%), CleanSpark (up 19.9%), and Strategy (up 15.6%) experienced substantial growth as Bitcoin neared new highs. Markets are unperturbed by the government shutdown, with investors remaining bullish, anticipating two quarter-point cuts by the year-end.

Not all stocks fared as well, however; Tesla shares suffered despite reporting a record sales quarter as investors focus shifted to future performance without the federal Electronic Vehicle (EV) tax credit.

Nevertheless, Fair Isaac Corp (FICO) saw shares surge 18% after announcing plans to sell its credit scores directly to mortgage lenders. Pfizer also rallied more than 16% following an agreement with the Trump administration to reduce prescription drug costs for American patients.

Overall, the week saw major gains in the stock market, largely driven by the tech and crypto sectors. However, experts warn of potential instability should a government data blackout cause confusion ahead of the Federal Reserve’s October meeting.