Stock Market News Today: Dow Set to Open Down Amid Government Shutdown Risk
Stock futures were sliding and gold clinched yet another all-time high early Tuesday, with investors on edge about a potential government shutdown.
Futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 80 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures slid 0.2%, and contracts tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 also fell 0.2%.
The most actively-traded gold futures contract was up 0.7% to $3,883 an ounce, having been as high as $3,899 an ounce in earlier trading. The dollar slid 0.2% against a weighted basket of its peers, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note dropped 1 basis point to 4.13%.
If congressional leaders can’t agree to pass a short-term funding measure by 12.01 a.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, the government will shut down. That would delay the release of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly jobs report, which could have a knock-on effect on markets, seeing as investors are still uncertain about whether the Federal Reserve will carry on cutting interest rates.
“No payrolls this Friday if it goes ahead,” Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid said.
“Depending how long any shutdown drags on for, it’s even possible that the Fed might not have contemporaneous data going into their next meeting on October 28-29,” he added. “Given the median shutdown lasts two to three days that’s a stretch for now, but worth bearing in mind.”
President Donald Trump moved to impose tariffs on imports of lumber, kitchen cabinets and certain furniture products on Monday, at a rate a little lower than he had threatened last week.
Wall Street was also weighing up Trump’s 20-point plan that aims to end the war in Gaza. If Hamas doesn’t accept, or the plan falls apart, “Israel would have my full backing to finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas,” Trump said.