On Wall Street, stock prices slightly fell on Wednesday as investors are concerned about the intransigence of Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress regarding the budget, which could lead to a prolonged government shutdown.
The Dow Jones dropped 58 points, or 0.39 percent, to 15,133 points, while the S&P 500 slid 0.07 percent to 1,693 points, and the Nasdaq index fell 0.08 percent to 3,815 points.
On the second day since the government shutdown began, Republicans and Democrats have not budged in their budget discussions, leading investors to fear that hundreds of thousands of federal employees could remain on unpaid leave longer than anticipated.
There is a widespread belief that a shorter government shutdown should not significantly impact the market, but a longer one could undermine consumer confidence and slow economic growth.
Concerns are also growing as the deadline approaches for Congress to approve a proposal to raise the allowable debt ceiling from the current $16.7 trillion.
If an agreement is not reached by October 17, the U.S. government will not be able to meet all its financial obligations, and the U.S. could lose its top-tier triple-A credit rating.
“This market decline cannot be called panic. However, the longer the shutdown lasts and the closer we get to the October 17 deadline, investors will become increasingly nervous. Although it seemed unbelievable not long ago, it now seems possible that the government will not be able to meet all its obligations after that deadline,” says Quincy Krosby, an analyst at Prudential Financial.
