September markets contemplated inflation, interest rates, recession and a government shutdown and an active business news cycle.  Although we now know that Congress pulled a short-term rabbit from its hat over the weekend to avert an October government shutdown, the topic is far from closed.  Rising interest rates and recession fears also may be subsiding as key indicators came in under expectations.  The Fed paused interest rate increases in September but clearly left the door open for future month increases.  We expect the markets will continue to look for a sign of “finality” on many economic fronts in 2023 Q4. 

All three indexes continued with their downward momentum from August.  Specifically, the Dow fell 3.5%.  The Nasdaq Composite was down by 5.8% in September with the S&P off by 4.9%.  While October has been known to be a rough month for the markets historically, many are voicing their opinions that the markets have sold off a bit too fast in the August/September timeframe. 

Below is a chart comparing ETF performance based on the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P for the month of September 2023.