The S&P 500 eked out a record closing high in a volatile session at the end of the week, with interest rate-cut expectations holding it up as the US government shutdown went on for a third day.

The Dow also posted a record closing high, but the Nasdaq ended lower.

The S&P 500 technology sector eased, with shares of Applied Materials declining 2.7 percent after the chip-equipment maker late on Thursday forecast a US$600 million hit to fiscal 2026 revenue.

Shares of Tesla were 1.4 percent lower, while utilities rose 1.2 percent and led gains among S&P 500 sectors.

The US nonfarm payrolls report for September was due for release on Friday, but was not published due to the government closure.

Investors were still able to digest a survey by the Institute for Supply Management, which showed the services employment index contracted for the fourth consecutive month.

The news underscored the case for more interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

"It certainly feels like momentum is on the side of investors over the last few days," said Mona Mahajan, head of investment strategy at Edward Jones.

It seems like "the market probability of a Fed rate cut has actually gone up since the shutdown began," she said. "Maybe that's because there's the potential impact on the economy or some weaker jobs data this week or this morning's ISM data... the expectation is we're still in this environment where the Fed is going to cut rates." (Reuters)