Stock futures were positioned for the lower opening this morning and the major indices in the U.S. moved through the red during the majority of the trading session today. The Dow Jones dropped off as the session opened and slowly made its way back towards break-even but prior to close, it was still trending red.
Negative sentiment was felt today as word spread that the U.S. government was having more difficulty coming to a debt ceiling resolution. The deadline is looming and investors on Wall Street are feeling the pressure. Some analysts feel that it could be an economic Armageddon if a compromise is not reached. The American public would be subject to a myriad of problems such as higher interest rates and a decline in the dollar’s value. The uncertainty and associated fear that is growing in the market place kept index values in the red today. With the deadline only eight days away, possible default is becoming more real by the day. The fear and anxiety is pushing investors towards safe havens and precious metal gold is benefiting from the attention. The dollar is weakening today versus the euro and the Japanese yen. This fact is also helping to support precious metal gold today. Gold futures hit an intraday record during the session. European markets and Asian markets are closing lower this day as well. As close approached this day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was posting red. The DJIA was lower by .62 percent or 77.99 points at 12,603.17. The Nasdaq was red by .43 percent or 12.38 at 2,846.36 and the S&P 500 was lower by .46 percent at 6.20 at 1,338.70.