LONDON (AP) World stocks mostly drifted lower on Friday as investors worried that U.S. politicians might not agree on a budget needed to avoid a shutdown of the government.
The government will reach its borrowing limit, or debt ceiling, on Tuesday. If Congress doesn't raise that limit, the government won't be able to pay all its bills and some 800,000 of the 2.1 million federal employees will not go to work.
The White House and Republican lawmakers still disagree sharply on spending cuts and other key budget issues. The Senate plans to vote Friday on measure to prevent an immediate shutdown next week, but a lasting solution still seems far off.
"Tension will increase on the U.S. fiscal front as we approach the deadline of potential government shutdown and will likely act as a drag on sentiment," said Gary Yau, analyst at Credit Agricole CIB.
Britain's FTSE 100 index dropped 0.8 percent to close at 6,512.66 while Germany's DAX ended flat at 8,661.51. France's CAC 40 also closed unchanged, at 4,186.77.