Stocks Decline as Shutdown Fears Escalate

U.S. stocks declined on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Dow posted their first weekly drop in four, as congressional Democrats and Republicans struggled to pass a federal budget to avert a government shutdown days away. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 70.06 points, or 0.46%, to 15,258.24. The S&P 500 index lost 6.92 points, or 0.41%, to 1,691.75. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.84 points, or 0.15%, to 3,781.59. For the week, The Dow Jones Industrial tallied a 1.3% decline, S&P 500 lost 1.1% and Nasdaq Composite was up 0.2%.

Although the Senate voted Friday to approve legislation that would keep the government open until Nov. 15, there could still be a shutdown if the U.S. lawmakers don’t move forward quickly. To avoid a shutdown House Republicans and Senate Democrats must compromise on a final bill by Tuesday morning or thousands of federal workers will not be allowed to report to work.

U.S. consumer confidence declined this month as Americans turned more pessimistic about the economy, their own finances, and government budget policies. The University of Michigan says its final reading of consumer sentiment dropped to 77.5 in September from 82.1 in August.

The U.S. Labor Department would not issue its closely watched monthly employment report next week should the government shut down on Monday, a memo from the department showed on Friday.

For the first time in its 79-year history, the US Federal Housing Administration is tapping US Treasury funds to cover a $1.7bn shortfall in its key mortgage programme, the agency told the Senate banking committee in a letter sent on Friday.

Beats Electronics LLC, a maker of headphones founded by rapper Dr. Dre and music producer Jimmy Iovine, will get a $500 million investment from Carlyle Group (CG.O), a person familiar with the matter said, valuing the company at more than $1 billion.