Trading has closed for the day on the major American financial markets, which continued their downward spiral amid a lack of progress on a new debt ceiling. According to The New York Times, "the Dow Jones industrial average was down 88.36 points, or 0.70 percent, to 12,592.80. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was down 7.59 points, or 0.56 percent, to 1,337.43. The Nasdaq was down 16.03 points, or 0.56 percent, to 2,842.80." That was actually an improvement on early trading, when blue chip stocks were off 125 points.

The Wall Street Journal notes gold futures closed at $1,612 an ounce, after reaching $1,624 an ounce earlier in the day, a new intraday record.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at rgustini at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Ray Gustini