U.S. Government Shutdown Shakes Markets and Boosts Gold as Dollar Dips

Wall Street futures faltered and gold prices surged to record highs on Wednesday as the U.S. government shutdown crippled its operations, delaying vital jobs data that could cloud interest rate forecasts.

The deadlock over a funding deal has prompted agencies to warn that the shutdown will impede the release of a critical September employment report and furlough 750,000 federal workers at a daily financial hit of $400 million. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures both dropped approximately 0.5%. Meanwhile, gold reached unprecedented heights at $3,895 an ounce for the third consecutive session.

Contrarily, European shares advanced against the global trend, with the STOXX 600 rising 0.7%. British and Swiss stocks excelled, driven by healthcare shares after an agreement with Pfizer on drug pricing potentially exempted them from excessive U.S. import tariffs.

(With inputs from agencies.)