Shutdown Fails to Hurt Markets as Gauge Advances: Reality Check
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The first U.S. government shutdown in 17 years has done little to dent confidence in markets on speculation that the work stoppage will end in time for lawmakers to tackle the nation’s debt limit.
The Bloomberg U.S. Financial Conditions Index rose for the first time in seven days, increasing 0.17 to 1.34. The gauge measures stress in the markets by combining everything from money-market rates to yields on government and corporate bonds to volatility in equities. During the debt-ceiling debate of August 2011, the index fell as low as negative 1.631.