Stocks sluggish as US government shutdown ends

Stock markets were sluggish on Thursday after President Donald Trump signed a spending bill to end a record-long US government shutdown.

In early trading on Wall Street, the tech heavy Nasdaq lost more than one percent with chip giant Nvidia notably shedding 2.8 percent while the Dow and the S&P 500 were also in the red by around half of one percent.

London and Frankfurt also lost close on one percent as Europe crawled towards the European close with Paris a rare beam of light, adding 0.4 percent two hours from the closing bell.

“While it’s unclear whether the (US) shutdown was ever a real drag on equities -– given that stocks largely rallied through it -– the question now is whether the market’s recent exuberance has run its course,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at StoneX.

Wal