Posted on 09/30/21
| News Source: FOX Business
U.S. stock indexes were sharply lower on the final day of the third quarter as the Senate reached a deal to avoid a government shutdown and as House Democrats vote on the cornerstones of President Biden's economic agenda.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 430 points, or 1.1%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.96% and the Nasdaq Composite index lost 0.38%.
The Senate reached a stopgap deal overnight that would fund the government until early December. Congress must pass the bill before midnight to avoid a shutdown. Lawmakers must still raise the debt ceiling by Oct. 18 to prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its debt.
Additionally, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is still trying to iron out plans to bring both the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the $3.5 trillion spending plan up for a vote in the lower chamber.
This as Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said the spending plan would need to be trimmed down to about $1.5 trillion to secure his vote. Manchin holds a key swing vote for Democrats who are trying to pass the $3.5 trillion human infrastructure plan via budget reconciliation to avoid a Republican filibuster.
Initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose by 11,000 last week to 362,000 filings. Continuing claims, meanwhile, declined after the extra $300 per week in supplemental benefits expired the week before the data was collected. A separate release showed second-quarter gross domestic product was revised higher by 0.1 percentage points to 6.7%.
Amid the whirlwind of headlines the yield on the 10-year note was unchanged at 1.52%.