S&P 500 slips amid shutdown jitters, gold cools momentum

U.S. stocks slipped on Tuesday, with the major indexes retreating and gold pausing its record rally as jitters over a potential government shutdown spread across Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened 20 points lower, while the benchmark S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.1% and 0.16%, respectively.

U.S. stocks were lower after Wall Street also closed negative on Monday. As equities showed signs of investor concern, other asset classes trended either muted or down on the day, including gold and cryptocurrencies.

The precious metal, fresh off record highs near $3,900, cooled to around $3,843, down 0.31%.

Stocks and crypto had edged up as the dollar dipped on Monday, but the brief uptick has a muted outlook early Tuesday as Bitcoin (BTC) pares gains from above $114,000 to mirror the major U.S. gauges.

Markets weigh potential US government shutdown

The slight downturn for markets comes as investors show jitters around a possible government shutdown. Wall Street had looked to edge higher at open on Monday, but saw the uptick dissipate after Trump failed to secure a deal from Democratic and Republican Congressional leaders.

Leaders pointed to a lack of consensus during the White House meeting on Monday.

Vice President JD Vance, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senate Republican Leader John Thune all pointed to major differences after the Oval Office meeting, adding to fears of the first partial government shutdown since 2019.

If Trump fails to secure a last-minute deal, the shutdown will begin at 12:01 a.m. ET on Wednesday. Polymarket puts the odds of a federal government shutdown in 2025 at over 85%. Odds of this happening on Oct. 1, 2025, are at 79%. Investors see a shutdown as likely to impact the release of key macroeconomic data and potentially the Federal Reserve’s anticipated interest-rate cut.

Alongside the looming government shutdown, U.S. stocks are faltering amid investor reaction to President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs on lumber. Trump also threatened fresh tariffs on foreign-made movies on Monday.

Jobs data out on Friday

Investors will watch for market insights from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Bureau of Labor Statistics report will offer details on U.S. job openings in August, and forecasts have vacancies dipping slightly to 7.1 million, off July’s 7.181 million.

The market will be keen on a deal that keeps the government operational ahead of the anticipated nonfarm payrolls report for September, set for release on Friday.