U.S. government officially shuts down today as Congress could not reach a funding agreement, furloughing 750,000 federal workers and halting major economic reports. The doubt shook Wall Street, as futures traded down along key indexes. Investors fled to safe-haven assets, pushing the price of gold to an all-time high as the dollar suffered its fourth consecutive loss.. Economists caution that a long shutdown will interfere with Federal Reserve decision-making by postponing employment and inflation statistics.
Unlike other shutdowns in the past that ended in political tradeoffs, the current standoff has increased worries regarding the fiscal stability of the country, considering that interest rates are already straining household and business lives.