"In resuming its rate-cutting cycle, the Fed is responding primarily to signs of weakening labor demand," Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, said in an email.

The Federal Reserve voted to cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point, but new opposition to the Fed's easing campaign emerged.

“The shutdown of the federal government will weigh on economic activity while it persists, but these effects should reverse once the shutdown ends,” Powell said.