Oct 2 (Reuters) - The benchmark S&P 500 index is on track to open at a record high on Thursday, on the back of renewed expectations for interest rate cuts, while traders brace for a data-light session with few fresh catalysts.
Investors have anchored their expectations to a dovish Federal Reserve, which has allowed them to brush aside uncertainty surrounding the U.S. government shutdown.
At the heart of the Fed's policy outlook is the labor market, a critical piece of its dual mandate. With the government shutdown creating a data vacuum, investors are relying more heavily on alternative sources.
"I think they will look at the fact that the trend in the jobs market continues to be weak, which is one of their mandates that they're trying to defend right now," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth.
U.S. employers announced fewer layoffs in September but hiring plans so far this year were the lowest since 2009, according to a report from global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The report came a day after a weaker-than-expected ADP National Employment Report on Wednesday.
Typically, these reports do not carry the same weight as the Labor Department's indicators. But they are filling the gap left by the weekly jobless claims report, a key gauge of labor market health, which on Thursday became the first data casualty of the government shutdown.
Traders have read the recent data as enough to push the Federal Reserve toward a 25-basis-point rate cut at its upcoming policy meeting.
At 08:23 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 7 points, or 0.01%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 19 points, or 0.28%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 144.25 points, or 0.58%.
The S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow indexes ended at record closing highs on Wednesday.
Historically, government shutdowns have had limited impact on equity markets. But with investors closely watching for signs of monetary easing, the current data vacuum poses a greater risk to the Fed's ability to assess the economy and guide policy.
"The longer the shutdown lasts, the more the Fed will feel inclined to continue to cut rates," Hogan said.
Later on Thursday, investors will also parse commentary from Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan.
Among individual stocks, Tesla (TSLA.O), was up 1.9% in premarket trading ahead of its quarterly deliveries report, while NYSE-listed shares of Lithium Americas (LAC.TO), slid 4.7% after Canaccord Genuity downgraded the stock.
Credit bureaus Equifax (EFX.N), and TransUnion (TRU.N), fell 10.2% and 10.1%, respectively, after FICO (FICO.N), launched a program that could allow mortgage lenders get access to credit scores without relying on the bureaus. FICO was up 20.3%.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), gained 3.3% after a report said Intel (INTC.O), was in early talks to add the chipmaker as a foundry customer.
Reporting by Niket Nishant and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri
