Stock Futures Point Lower Ahead of Government Shutdown Deadline

Stock futures, Treasury yields, and the dollar pointed lower and safe-haven gold futures reached a new record high Tuesday, hours ahead of a deadline for congressional leaders to keep the U.S. government open. 

Futures associated with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, benchmark S&P 500, and tech-heavy Nasdaq were down 0.2%, 0.2%, and 0.1%, respectively. Still, the three indexes closed higher yesterday for a second straight session following a three-day skid, and were set to comfortably end higher for the month.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, was down 0.1% to 97.80 and the 10-year Treasury yield ticked lower to 4.13% from 4.14% Monday. Gold futures pulled back to $3,835 after setting its latest record of nearly $3,900 early Tuesday.

President Donald Trump met with congressional leaders Monday ahead of the deadline, set for 12:01 a.m. ET Wednesday, but no deal was struck, and gamblers were recently pricing in 77% odds of a shutdown on Oct. 1, according to betting website Polymarket. Financial markets and officials at the Federal Reserve are eying a crucial report on the job market due Friday, but that report and others later in the month could be delayed if a shutdown occurs and drags on.

West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, fell 0.7% to about $63 per barrel after a 4% decline yesterday. Bitcoin was down 1% to roughly $113,000.

In corporate news, Nike (NKE) shares were little changed ahead of the sneaker giant’s quarterly earnings report after the bell; ExxonMobil (XOM) stock was near flat on news it would be laying off 2,000 employees amid low oil prices; and shares of EchoStar (SATS) popped 10% on a report that Verizon was in talks to purchase wireless spectrum from the DISH TV parent.

Robinhood Markets (HOOD) shares pulled back 1% after soaring 12% yesterday to close at an all-time high after CEO Vlad Tenev said the brokerage platform operator surpassed 4 billion event contracts traded on its prediction markets.