US Stocks Futures Slide as Government Shutdown Fuels Uncertainty

US equity futures held losses after Congress failed to agree to a spending plan, forcing the government into a shutdown that will keep hundreds of thousands of federal workers home from their jobs.

Futures on the S&P 500 Index were down 0.7% as of 3:05 a.m. after the deadline to fund the government came and went at midnight in New York. Contracts on the Nasdaq 100 Index fell 0.9%. Futures tracking the Cboe Volatility Index edged higher to above 18.