The stock market is down sharply in early trading as the U.S. federal government appears headed for a partial shutdown.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 150 points to 15,107 shortly after the stock market opened Monday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 15 points to 1,676. The Nasdaq composite tumbled 42 points to 3,739.

Investors are focused on the growing likelihood of a partial shutdown of the government on Tuesday unless Congress agrees to a new budget. There is little evidence of a thaw between the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate and Republican-led House of Representatives over a budget.

Even if that hurdle is cleared, the Congressional dispute is poised to continue into the middle of October as legislators debate raising the nation's borrowing limit.

 

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved)

 

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