The market is down 24 points. Dow Jones closed down 130 — Heavy falls on Wall Street overnight as creeping worries about a political stalemate triggering the first default in US history starts to unnerve investors.

Claims for unemployment rose by 1000 to 308,000 which was below a forecast for 313,000.

The ISM services index fell from 58.6 to 54.4 in September. Consensus was 57.

Export orders were up from 50.5 to 57.5.

Planned layoffs fell from 50,462 to 40,289 in September.

US 10 year bond yields fell by 2 points to 2.61%.

US Treasury Department has warned that a federal default could lead to a recession as bad as the GFC.

President Obama has urged House speaker John Boehner to hold a vote on funding federal operations without string attached.

US Stocks — Boeing Co, Chevron Corp and DuPont fell at least 1.4%. Eli Lilly Co fell 3.4%. United Technologies Corp fell 1% after saying the shutdown will lead to as many as 5,000 temporary layoffs.

Spanish 10-year bond yields were down one basis point to 4.24%, Portuguese 10-year bond yields down 16 basis points to 6.61%.

Chinese Non-Manufacturing PMI rose to 55.4 in September from 53.9 in August.

The US dollar fell against major currencies.

The Aussie dollar traded between US93.70c-US94.10c before ending around US93.95c. The dollar is currently trading at US93.96c.

European markets were mixed on Thursday. Economic data was positive with EU retail sales up 0.7%.

Mining shares fell — RIO down 0.9% and BHP down 1.3%.

Oil price fell to $0.79 to $103.31 a barrel.

Base metals were mostly down. Nickel falling the most.

The iron ore price was unchanged at US$131.40 a tonne with Chinese markets still on holidays.

Gold fell 0.23% to $1317.6.

STORIES

  •  US Non-farm payrolls will NOT be released tonight. Jobs data that was due to be released tonight has been delayed until the government reopens. This data is crucial to the tapering debate. No alternative date has been provided.
  • A Female driver in black Lexus had tried to ram the White House gates. Police chased her towards Capitol building where shots were fired.
  • Twitter to raise $1 billion in IPO as sales grow.
  • US Treasury said in a report — Not only might the economic consequences of a default be profound, but those consequences include high interest rates, reduced investment, higher debt repayments and slow economic growth. It could last for more than a generation.
  • Wheel manufacturer ROH will invest $5.5 million over the next 9 months to secure a contract to supply car giant Toyota for another 10 years. The company once supplied wheels to all four local car maker — Toyota, Holden, Ford and Mitsubishi. It is are believed to be in discussions with Holden.
  • A fire that started in a Tesla electric car’s battery pack has wiped $US2.5 billion off the company’s value. The fire destroyed the car. Shares fell 6%.
  • US President Barack Obama says there is one man to blame for the government shutdown and it is House Speaker John Boehner.
  • Retailers have urged the Coalition Government to remove the $1000 GST-free threshold for imports following reports that Australians spent more than $7 billion on overseas online shopping last year.
  • Japanese beer company Asahi has been dealt a blow after the Federal Court blocked their access to documents relating to the purchase of Independent Liquor from two private equity partners.
  • Samsung Electronics is on track to deliver a record $US9.3 billion quarter profit.
  • Rio Tinto (RIO) — Is phasing out its train drivers and replacing them with robots.
  • Gunns (GNS) — Chairman John Gay could be pursued for the profits of his insider trading of the failed timber company’s shares.
  • CBA shareholders will be asked to approve a bonus of $4.28 million for CEO Ian Narev at their AGM.
  • Former Leighton Holdings CEO Wal King denied allegations that he had knowledge of the company’s corrupt dealings in Iraq.