Wall Street shrugged off the first hours of a partial federal government shutdown and a surprisingly weak private‑sector jobs report on Wednesday, with major indexes finishing the day higher and the S&P 500 marking a new intraday record. The tech‑led Nasdaq rose 0.4 percent, the S&P 500 advanced 0.3 percent to set a fresh high, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.1 percent as investors digested a mix of policy risk and corporate news.

Markets opened cautiously after Congress failed to pass stopgap spending legislation, triggering furloughs for some federal workers. Safe‑haven assets had jumped earlier in the session and gold hit multi‑week highs in the prior session, but buying interest returned to equities as traders weighed the likely short duration of the shutdown against a steady pipeline of corporate earnings. “The market is telling us that a short, predictable shutdown is a known risk that can be priced,” said Jessica Li, senior market strategist at Harborview Investments. “Earnings momentum and an otherwise resilient consumer are keeping investors constructive.”

Complicating the macro backdrop, ADP’s monthly private‑payrolls report showed a surprise decline in private‑sector jobs for September, signaling a softer labor market than economists expected. The drop — the first private‑sector decrease in several months — injected uncertainty into the Federal Reserve outlook and reinforced the view that policy will remain data‑dependent. Traders reduced bets on additional rate hikes, and Treasury yields ticked lower, supporting valuations for growth and technology stocks.

Corporate news provided a near‑term lift. Nike shares surged after the athletic apparel giant reported better‑than‑expected sales for its latest quarter, with the company citing stronger demand in North America and China and an acceleration in direct‑to‑consumer growth. Nike’s comparable‑sales gain surprised analysts and the stock rose roughly 6 percent in midday trading, helping retail and consumer discretionary sectors outperform the broader market. “Nike’s print shows that brand strength and supply‑chain normalization are translating into real revenue growth,” said Michael Anders, a retail analyst at Clearwater Capital. “That kind of beat matters when investors are already inclined toward risk.”

The advance followed a run of gains in late September, when the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted multiple record closes on the back of easing inflation readings and upbeat earnings from large tech firms. Still, strategists cautioned that near‑term headline risks — from fiscal brinkmanship in Washington to mixed labor data and the upcoming October earnings calendar — could produce volatility. “This isn’t a narrative of uninterrupted upside,” Ms. Li said. “We’re in a market that will trade on data and headlines; the resiliency of corporate profits is what’s keeping the tape higher for now.”

Investors will look to Thursday’s economic docket and the start of major bank and industrial reports next week for clues on whether the labor softness is transitory and whether earnings can sustain the market’s run. For now, the tape suggests confidence that short‑lived political disruptions and a single soft jobs print will not derail a market that has leaned on robust earnings and still‑benign inflation signals.