Both the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) clinched new intraday record highs yet again ahead of the weekend.
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The indexes got a boost after President Trump shared encouraging developments from his phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“We made progress on many very important issues including Trade, Fentanyl, the need to bring the War between Russia and Ukraine to an end, and the approval of the TikTok Deal,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Friday. Earlier this week, negotiators from both countries met in Madrid and reached a framework deal to allow the popular short-form video app to continue operating in the U.S. On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order to extend the TikTok ban deadline by another 90 days to December 16.
In addition, Trump said the two leaders would speak again on the phone and meet in South Korea at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, which begins on October 31. Trump added that he would visit China in early 2026, while Xi will head to the U.S. “at an appropriate time.”
On Wednesday, the Fed voted 11-1 to cut interest rates by 25 bps, with newly appointed Fed Governor Stephen Miran dissenting in favor of a 50 bps reduction. An additional two rate cuts before the end of the year are likely in store with 80.4% odds, according to CME’s FedWatch tool. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari sides with the odds, saying that two cuts are necessary to address a labor market slowdown.
“I believe the risk of a sharp increase in unemployment warrants the committee taking some action to support the labor market,” Kashkari wrote in an article for the Minneapolis Fed, adding that “we could always move more quickly” if the labor market deteriorates faster than the Fed expects.
Meanwhile, the odds of a government shutdown have increased by 3% during the past 24 hours on prediction platform Polymarket. On Friday, the Senate rejected two funding bills from each political party, setting the stage for a last-minute scramble before funding runs out on October 1 at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time. Adding on to the frenzy is that both chambers will likely take a break next week for the Rosh Hashanah holiday.
The S&P 500 (SPX) closed with a 0.49% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) returned 0.70%.
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