Gold hit a record high and Wall Street futures fell with the dollar Wednesday as the US government shut down after lawmakers failed to reach a funding deal, though most Asian and European markets edged up.

The prospect of services in the United States being closed overshadowed optimism the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again.

Democrats and Republicans remain at loggerheads 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 President Donald Trump to sign off.

Democrats want to see hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare spending for low-income households restore

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