By Mike Dolan

LONDON (Reuters) -What matters in U.S. and global markets today

By Mike Dolan, Editor-At-Large, Finance and Markets

With the U.S. government still shut down and China on holiday, world markets lapped up Federal Reserve easing speculation and European stocks hit record highs – riffing off the available U.S. labor market data as well as AI and trade-related themes.

Wall Street stocks shook off news of a surprising drop in private sector payrolls last month and the first day of the U.S. government shutdown on Wednesday. All three major indexes finished higher again and interest rate markets priced in a 95% chance of 50 basis points of more Fed rate cuts by yearend. Stock index futures were higher again before Thursday’s bell, with short-dated Treasury yields at two-week lows

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