US open: Stocks fall as data uncertainty hits sentiment

(Sharecast News) - US stocks opened in the red on Thursday as federal employees were given the green light to return to work, with uncertainty regarding economic data releases weighing heavily on market sentiment.

The Dow opened 0.2% lower, pulling back after hitting a new record of 48,254.82 on Wednesday, while the S&P 500 fell 0.6% and Nasdaq dropped 1.1%. The Nasdaq, in particular, is on track for its third straight decline, as concerns about lofty valuations in the tech sector continue to keep a lid on risk appetite.

A spending package to fund the government until the end of January was approved by the GOP-controlled House of Representatives and signed by president Donald Trump late on Wednesday. The bill will send all furloughed federal employees back to work, provide funds for federal agencies and departments, and send back pay for 43 days to hundreds of thousands of public sector employees.

However, the package was just a stopgap bill as party leaders continue to debate over the future of enhanced healthcare insurance which expires at the end of this year. Failure to come to an agreement could result in another shutdown come February (with the exception of certain branches that have spending bills agreed for the whole of 2026).

The end of the shutdown had hoped to kickstart a barrage of delayed economic data releases -markets have been without any government-produced figures since the start of October - though White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt indicated that October's reports on payrolls and inflation (both already overdue) and are "likely never" to be released, since the shutdown impaired the ability to gather the necessary data.

With September's employment report net yet out, and November's set to be published just days before the next Federal Reserve meeting on 9-10 December, uncertainty regarding monetary policy remains high.

"The labour market holds the key to the next stage. Evidence from private studies points to cooling conditions," said Nigel Green, chief executive of financial advisory deVere. "Investors need official confirmation to judge whether this cooling is modest and manageable or something more serious. The next reports give the Federal Reserve the clarity it has lacked during the shutdown."

Disney tanks, Cisco jumps

Shares in Disney dropped 8% after the streaming and entertainment group missed market estimates with its results for the fiscal fourth quarter, as top-line gains in streaming and experiences were offset by declines in its movie business and cable TV networks.

Revenues totalled $22.5bn over the three months to 27 September, in line with the prior year and short of the $22.75bn expected by a consensus of analysts. Linear networks sales were 16% lower due to falls in viewership and political advertising revenues, while content and licensing sales were down 26% as a result of record releases the previous year.

Cisco jumped 5% after the networking giant beat forecasts with its fiscal first-quarter results after-hours on Wednesday, and issuing forward guidance that topped analysts' estimates, fuelled by $1.3bn in AI infrastructure orders.