Government shutdowns don't usually move markets

There's been some speculation that the past week's stock market decline has been caused, at least in part, by worries over a government shutdown (which ultimately lasted about eight hours).

Bottom line: There is no compelling historical evidence that the markets react positively or negatively to government shutdowns. During the 18 government shutdowns since 1976 that included trading days, the markets went lower for nine and higher for nine — with an average S&P 500 change of just 0.5%.