HONG KONG: Gold hit a record high and Wall Street futures fell Wednesday as the US government went into shutdown after lawmakers in Washington failed to reach a deal to keep it funded, though most Asia markets held gains.
Democrats and Republicans have been unable to bridge their differences on funding the government beyond Tuesday — the end of the fiscal year — with both sides blaming each other.
Senate Republicans tried to rubber-stamp a House-passed temporary funding patch — but could not get the handful of Democratic votes required to send it to Donald Trump to sign off.