Senate Republicans and Democrats are refusing to budge as a government shutdown looms.
U.S. stock-market futures were flat late Sunday, as investors wait and see whether there’ll be a government shutdown later this week.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM00) were up about 50 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures (ES00) and Nasdaq-100 futures (NQ00) also gained slightly. Bitcoin (BTCUSD) regained the $112,000 level after dropping below $110,000 on Friday. Gold prices (GC00) retreated and the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, which measures the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, was little changed.
Crude prices (CL.1) slipped nearly 1% after Reuters reported OPEC+ will likely approve another production increase of at least 137,000 barrels a day in November at its meeting next weekend.
Stocks closed higher Friday, bet still ended the week down. The S&P 500 SPX snapped a three-week winning streak, declining 0.3%, while the Dow DJIA slipped 0.1% and the Nasdaq COMP fell 0.7% on the week. Even so, stocks have had an unusually strong performance so far in September, which is traditionally a slower month. The S&P 500 is up 2.8% month to date, while the Dow is 1.5% higher and the Nasdaq is up 4.8%.
A government shutdown could come at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, which could delay the release of the important September jobs report due Friday. If a shutdown lingers, it could also put off CPI readings scheduled for Oct. 3 and Oct. 15, which could affect the Federal Reserve’s ability to gauge the economic temperature before deciding whether to cut interest rates again at the end of October.
Read more: The last thing the stock market wants right now is a government shutdown. Here’s why.
“Usually, shutdowns are shrugged off as noise, but this time the stakes are different,” Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, wrote in a note Sunday. “Not only would a closure risk delay[ing] the jobs report itself, but it would also arrive at a moment when valuations are sky-high and momentum fragile. If the tape loses its compass just as traders need direction most, volatility could spike in ways the market hasn’t fully priced.”
Democrats and Republicans will meet Monday at the White House in hopes of hammering out a compromise extension to avert a shutdown. While Republicans hold majorities in both the House and Senate, they need at least eight Democratic votes in the Senate to pass a funding extension. Democrats appear ready to force a shutdown in an effort to preserve Affordable Care Act tax credits, which make heath coverage more affordable for millions of Americans.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota said Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that he’s open to talks on extending those tax credits, but only after a short-term extension is passed. “Let’s keep the government open and then figure out where we go,” he said.
Also appearing on “Meet the Press,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said he hopes Monday’s talks will be “a serious negotiation.”
“If the president at this meeting is going to rant and just yell at Democrats and talk about all his alleged grievances and say this, that and the other thing, we won’t get anything done,” he said, according to a transcript.
-Mike Murphy
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