On Wall Street, investors ignore third day of U.S. government shutdown

Wall Street nudged past yesterday’s record highs in early trading Friday as investors continue to shrug off the U.S. government shutdown, now in its third day. Futures for S&P 500, Nasdaq and the Dow Jones Industrial Average all added 0.2% before the bell. All three closed at record levels on Thursday, boosted by gains of chipmakers and artificial intelligence companies. Markets have largely ignored the shutdown of the U.S. government after Democrat and Republican lawmakers failed to reach agreement on funding. U.S. President Donald Trump and congressional leaders were not expected to meet again soon and the Democrats have held fast to their demands to preserve health care funding, warning of price spikes for millions of Americans nationwide. The government shutdown means this week’s usual