The U.S. stock markets added on Monday. At New York’s close the Dow Jones Industrial Average settled at 49,412 points, up 0.6 % from the previous trading day.
A short time earlier the broader S&P 500 was around 6,950 points, up 0.5 %, while the Nasdaq 100 was near 25,713 points, up 0.4 %.
In the United States a new federal shutdown looms that could begin on Friday. This time fewer agencies would be affected than during the country’s longest shutdown last year. Funding for the Department of Agriculture, which also handles food‑assistance programs, and for the Department of Commerce has been secured for several more months. Negotiations over the budget for the Department of the Interior-including the ICE law‑enforcement agency-and other areas were halted over the weekend by Democrats after another person in Minneapolis was killed by ICE officers.
The euro was a touch weaker on Monday evening: one euro bought 1.1884 U.S. dollars, while one dollar was worth 0.8415 euro.
Gold rose to a new high: a fine troy ounce fetched $5,026 (+0.8 %), which is 135.96 euro per gram.
Brent crude fell slightly. At about 10 p.m. Central European Time a barrel of North Sea Brent traded at $65.78, down 10 cents or 0.2 % from the previous day’s close.