Wall Street ends lower after Trump's government shutdown threats

Economies.com
2017-08-23 21:04PM UTC

US stock indices closed lower on Wednesday after president Donald Trump threatened to shut the government if he didn't get the funds necessary to build the wall along the border with Mexico, while asserting the failure of the current trade talks with both Canada and Mexico and threatening to get rid of the NAFTA trade deal. 

 

Similarly, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Paul Ryan stated that government shutdown isn't necessary, but that failed to support the markets ahead of the deadline to assign budget funds on September 17.  

 

The US Congress faces internal tensions currently on the issue of raising the government debt ceiling, after Fitch Ratings warned that not raising the ceiling in the appropriate time could push it to reconsider its credit ratings for US treasury bonds. 

 

Earlier US data showed the manufacturing PMI slowed down unexpectedly, while services PMI widened more than expected according to preliminary readings for August, as new home sales tumbled unexpectedly in July.

 

Now markets await the Jackson Hole Symposium later this week.. the Economic Symposium, held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is attended by central bankers, finance ministers, academics, and financial market participants from around the world. The meetings are closed to the press but officials usually talk with reporters throughout the day.

 

Comments and speeches from central bankers and other influential officials can create significant market volatility, especially from major global figures such as Fed Chair Janet Yellen and governors of central banks in Japan, England, and Europe. 

 

Dow Jones shed 0.40%, or 87.80 points to 21,812.09, while Standard and Poor's 500 declined 0.35%, or 8.47 points to 2,444.04, as NASDAQ Composite dipped 0.30%, or 19.07 points to 6,278.41. 

 

Gold futures due on December 16 rose 0.36% to $1,295.60 an ounce from the opening of $1,291.00, while the dollar index slid 0.35% to 93.22 from the opening of 93.55. 

 

Otherwise, US crude futures due on September 15 rallied 1.11% to $48.36 a barrel from the opening of $47.83, while Brent crude futures due on October 15 scaled 1.25% to $52.52 a barrel from the opening of $51.87, after the EIA report showed another US inventory drawdown in line with expectations.

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