U.S. Stocks Fall as Investors Face Government Shutdown

Bloomberg (01/10) -- U.S. stocks slid, paring a quarterly gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as a stalemate over the federal budget increased the likelihood of a government shutdown. The S&P 500 fell 0.6 percent to 1,681.67 at 4 p.m. in New York. The benchmark gauge climbed 2.9 percent this month, giving it a quarterly gain of 4.7 percent, as the Federal Reserve kept its $85 billion of monthly bond-buying. U.S. lawmakers have to approve emergency legislation by midnight to keep the federal government operating from tomorrow, the beginning of the 2014 fiscal year. Failure to do so may result in as many as 800,000 federal employees being placed on temporary unpaid leave. Republicans and Democrats remained at odds over whether to tie any changes to President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act to a short-term extension of government funding. The Senate voted 54-46 to reject the House’s latest plan, in a party-line move that puts the pressure back on House Republicans.