<h1>Imminent federal funding deadline risks government shutdown, data delays and legal challenges over mass federal employee terminations</h1> Global markets traded lower as investors weighed the legal and fiscal risks of an imminent federal budget deadline that could trigger a government shutdown. Lawmakers' failure to pass funding may interrupt statutory budgetary operations and delay release and collection of economic data used by regulators and the central bank, potentially affecting monetary policy timing. The executive branch's reported intent to pursue large-scale federal employee terminations raises statutory and administrative-law concerns about due process and workforce rules. Market sensitivity to these procedural and policy uncertainties is reflected in volatile equity, commodity and currency movements.