us stock index futures were lower tuesday morning as the debt ceiling negotiations in congress again cast a pall on trading on monday the dow jones industrial average fell 140 points or 042 to 33287 the sp 500 increased 1 points or 002 to 4193 and the nasdaq composite gained 63 points or 05 to 12721 it was another tentative early session tuesday as futures twitched around the flatline before turning lower while investors absorbed the washington dc budget wrangling the debt ceiling seems to be the only market driver said stephen innes managing partner at spi asset management in a new letter to congress published on monday treasury secretary janet yellen reiterated that the us wont be able to pay all its bills by early june and as soon as june 1 if congress doesnt raise the debt ceiling president joe biden and house speaker kevin mccarthy met monday after the market close there was no deal but the sides emerged and struck a somewhat upbeat tone stresses have been building in government bond markets pushing up shortterm yields and the price of debt insurance as traders express concern about the impact on markets should yellens feared scenario come to pass if no agreement is reached the us could default on interest it owes on its debts sending borrowing costs soaring and sending shockwaves through the global economy the forecast incoming mild recession would turn into a storm and the us financial credibility would be badly shaken said susannah streeter head of money and markets at hargreaves lansdown the uncertainty has encouraged investors to eschew bold bets of late the sp 500 is up 92 this year as traders welcomed easing banking sector angst inflation cooling to a twoyear low and a generally wellreceived first quarter earnings reporting season but after reaching the top of its 3800 to 4200 range held for about seven months the sp 500 is struggling to make further headway until the prospect of a technical default by the us government is removed ongoing debt ceiling negotiations left investors sitting on their hands and unwilling to commit in the absence of an agreed resolution said richard hunter head of markets at interactive investor us economic updates set for release on tuesday include sp global flash us services and manufacturing purchasing manager indices for may due at 945 am eastern before that at 9 am dallas fed president lorie logan is expected to deliver some comments this content was created by marketwatch which is operated by dow jones  co marketwatch is published independently from dow jones newswires and the wall street journal