The Nasdaq logo is displayed at the Nasdaq Market site in New York, U.S., May 2, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

By Ateev Bhandari

(Reuters) -Nasdaq beat Wall Street expectations for third-quarter profit on Tuesday as persistent volatility boosted trading volumes, with its top executive signaling sustained momentum in the IPO market despite a gridlock in Washington.

U.S. exchanges have benefited as investors actively shuffled their portfolios to navigate uncertainty fueled by the Trump administration's changing tariff policy, as well as concerns over stagflation and signs of labor market weakness.

"The U.S. economy remains resilient, supported by solid fundamentals, but economic signals are mixed," CEO Adena Friedman told analysts on a call.

Nasdaq's market services revenue from trading jumped 14% to $303 million.

The exchange operator's shares were up 4% in early trading.

IPO MARKET TO REMAIN STRONG

The U.S. government shutdown, which has entered its fourth week, has sparked concerns over disruption to a red-hot IPO market recovering from a tariff-induced slump.

"Our IPO pipeline is robust, and we continue to expect a meaningful pickup in IPO activity in the quarters ahead," Friedman said, adding that the shutdown was causing "some short-term delays."

Analysts and bank executives have said that IPO prospects remained robust and any disruption due to the shutdown would be short-lived.

Total new listings on the Nasdaq rose to 205 in the third quarter, from 138 a year earlier.

U.S. IPO volumes clocked their best first nine months of the year since 2021, according to data from Dealogic.

NON-MARKET BETS PAYOFF

Nasdaq also saw broad-based growth across its financial technology and software divisions, reflecting the company's strategic pivot to generate more predictable, recurring revenue that is less sensitive to market volatility.

Revenue from its financial technology unit, which includes anti-financial crime and regulatory software, jumped 23.2% to $457 million in the third quarter, while its index business revenue rose 13.2% to $206 million.

Solutions quarterly revenue surpassed $1 billion and annual recurring revenues reached $3 billion for the first time, Friedman said in the earnings statement.

Nasdaq reported an adjusted profit of $511 million, or 88 cents per share, for the three months ended September 30. Analysts on average had expected a profit of 85 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)