U.S. stocks fall as budget talks hit fresh snag; Dow drops 0.87%

U.S. stocks fall as budget talks hit fresh snag; Dow drops 0.87%

Investing.com ג€“ U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday after lawmakers hit a fresh snag in their efforts to approve a spending package needed to reopen the federal government and also steer the country away from possible defaults.

At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.87%, the S&P 500 index fell 0.71%, while the Nasdaq Composite index fell 0.56%.

Negotiations among lawmakers to find a way to fund the government and avoid possible defaults hit a snag on Tuesday after the Democratically-controlled Senate said it would stop working on a way out of the impasse until the Republican controlled House comes up with a new proposal.

The news sent stocks falling by catching investors by surprise, who were upbeat earlier when both the Senate and the House of Representatives prepared roadmaps to end the crisis that were viewed by many as compatible.

While the dollar avoided losses amid sentiments that budget talks have hit a pothole but weren't dead in the water yet, stocks stayed in negative territory, mainly on concerns that House Speak John Boehner will present a new plan with previsions previously rejected by Democrats.

The U.S. is due to hit its debt ceiling on Thursday, after which Washington won't be able to guarantee all of its obligations.

Elsewhere, data released earlier revealed that an index of manufacturing activity in the New York region came in below expectations this month.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said that its general business conditions index fell to 1.52 for October from 6.29 in September. Analysts had expected a reading of 7.0.

Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Microsoft, up 0.17%, Johnson & Johnson, up 0.14%, and Intel, down 0.21%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included Home Depot, down 1.49%, Procter & Gamble, down 1.40%, and 3M, down 1.31%.

European indices, meanwhile, finished higher.

After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.90%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.78%, while Germany's DAX 30 gained 0.92%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 finished up 0.64%.