With a government shutdown looming and no agreement in sight, Wall Street's collective mood has dampened. The Dow and the S&P 500 have lost ground for three straight sessions for the first time in a month, although the Dow remains on pace for its second best monthly gain of 2013.
Investors will have economic data to distract them from the budget battle, starting with the July Case-Shiller home price report at 9 a.m. ET. Consensus forecasts call for a 12.4 percent increase in the nation's largest cities compared to a year ago.
At 10 a.m. ET, the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index is seen dropping to 79.9 for the September reading, compared to 81.5 in August.
The Treasury will sell $33 billion in 2 year notes, with the results of that auction available shortly after 1 p.m. ET.
It's also another busy day for Fed speakers, with Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto and Kansas City Fed President Esther George both scheduled to speak at a Chicago Federal Reserve event today.
Cruise line operator Carnival (CCL) is among the companies set to issue quarterly earnings this morning, with K.B. Home (KBH), CarMax (KMX), and Lennar (LEN) also scheduled to report.
Red Hat (RHT) is a stock to watch today, after the Linux software distributor reported second quarter profits of 35 cents per share, two cents above estimates, with revenues also above consensus. However, Red Hat's billings only crew by eight percent compared to expectations of 14 percent.
Citigroup (C) will lay off about 1,000 workers in its mortgage units because of a drop in demand.
Facebook (FB) and other sites banned in china will be allowed in a planned free-trade zone in Shanghai, according to the South China Morning Post. Separately, Facebook has rolled out its new "Autofill" mobile payments product, according to All Things D.
Boeing's (BA) proposal to supply 60 new fighter jets to South Korea has been turned down, despite the fact that it was the only bidder. South Korea decided not to name a winning bitter, saying it needs more air power than originally planned because of North Korea's nuclear program.
VeriFone (PAY) named Citigroup executive Paul Galant as its new CEO. He'll assume that post at the electronic payment systems provider on October 1.
Morgan Stanley (MS), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Credit Suisse (CS), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Wells Fargo (WFC) are among nine banks sued by U.S. regulators over the sale of $2.4 billion in mortgage-backed securities. Those sales were made to two credit unions that later failed, with regulators alleging that the banks misrepresented those securities.
Archer Daniels Midland (AMD) is planning to move its headquarters out of its longtime Decatur, Illinois home, although it said it will keep a workforce of 4,400 in Decatur.
Greenway Medical Technologies (GWAY) will be taken private by Vista Equity Partners for $20.35 per share in cash, or about $644 million. The price is a 19 percent premium over Greenway's Monday closing price.