AlQa'dah 27, 1434, Oct 3, 2013, SPA -- U.S. stocks closed lower Wednesday, as investors become more nervous about the ramifications of the political stalemate in Washington. In U.S. economic news, the biggest worry for investors is the potential for a government default on October 17. If Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling, the U.S. government will be unable to pay all of its bills later this month. In corporate news, shares of agriculture technology firm Monsanto dropped after the company missed earnings expectations. Shares of Tesla fell following an analyst downgrade. The stock still remains one of the best performers of the year as individual investors have embraced the maker of the electric Model S. Several Internet companies hit new 52-week highs, including Priceline, Amazon, Netflix, and Yahoo. The dollar rose against the euro and the pound, but fell versus the yen. Gold futures climbed $34.60 to $1,320.70 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 58.56, or 0.39 percent, to 15,133.14. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.13, or 0.07 percent, to 1,693.87. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index lost 2.96, or 0.08 percent, to 3,815.02.
