LONDON: European stocks and gold prices rose, while Wall Street futures fell on Wednesday as the US government shut down after lawmakers failed to reach a funding deal.
The prospect of services in the United States being closed pushed gold to another record high of over $3,895.
In Asia, Tokyo's stock market sank, while Hong Kong and Shanghai were closed for holidays.
Pharmaceutical shares lifted European markets after Pfizer was granted a reprieve from President Donald Trump's tariffs by agreeing to lower drug prices in the United States.
Trump also announced plans to unveil a website that will allow consumers to purchase certain medications directly from manufacturers at discounted rates.
While details remain scarce, shares in British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca rose by more than six percent, and GSK was up almost three percent in London.
The dollar remained under pressure due to concerns caused by the US government's partial shutdown, which began on Wednesday.
Democrats and Republicans failed to break a budget impasse, with talks hinging on health care funding.
"Historically, shutdowns have been bad for the US dollar, bad for US equities, and bad for bonds too," said Emma Wall, chief investment strategist at Hargreaves Lansdown.
"Should the shutdown remain unresolved it is likely to drive money outside of the US to markets with more certainty," she added.
While most shutdowns end after a short period, investors were concerned that it could prevent the release on Friday of the key non-farm payrolls report, a crucial guide for the Fed in its rate decisions.
The closure will result in the halt of non-essential operations, leaving hundreds of thousands of civil servants temporarily unpaid, and potentially disrupting many social safety net benefit payments.
Trump threatened to punish Democrats during any stoppage by targeting progressive priorities and forcing mass public sector job cuts.
"Shutdowns have delivered bouts of volatility, but the precedent has been that weakness tends to be short-lived," noted Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.
Futures on all three main indexes in New York were in the red.
India's rupee also made small inroads as the country's central bank decided against cutting interest rates, despite inflation remaining low; however, the unit continued to hover around record lows against the US dollar.
The South Asian currency has been hit by concerns over stalled trade talks with the Trump administration, which will not soften the painful tariffs. At the same time, Washington's strict immigration measures have added to worries.
The two sides remain in talks despite sharp disagreements over agricultural trade and New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil.
In company news, Australian mining titan BHP fell 2.5 percent following reports that China had told steelmakers to temporarily stop buying seagoing, dollar-denominated cargoes from the firm, as part of a pricing dispute.
