Stocks Waver, Shutdown Still in Focus

U.S. stocks wobbled between small gains and losses in the early trading on Friday, as investors stayed sensitive to news on the government shutdown and watched out for Federal Reserve speeches. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately dipped 4.63 points, or 0.03%, to 14,991.85. The S&P 500 was up 0.18 point, or 0.01%, to 1,678.84. The Nasdaq Composite gained 5.02 points, or 0.13%, to 3,779.36.

Wall Street views the slugfest between Democrats and Republicans over the government
shutdown as the undercard event. The main bout is the coming showdown over raising the
debt ceiling and making sure the U.S. has enough cash to pay its bills and avoid the
unthinkable: defaulting on its debt.

Samsung Electronics said its operating profit for the July-September quarter rose to
another record high. Its third-quarter operating income rose 25% over a year earlier to
$9.4 billion.

JPMorgan Chase & Co chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon has given up the title of chairman of the
company’s main bank subsidiary to conform with a new internal policy on multiple roles.

OCI Partners LP said its initial public offering of 17.5 million common units priced at
$18 a piece, below its expected range.