Investors kick off the week monitoring Washington, D.C., to gauge the threat of a government shutdown as gold prices soar and the dollar drops.

Realtor Justin Brooks with The Brooksy Group said the region has shifted into a buyers' market. He said inventory is up about 13 percent, sellers are receiving roughly 5 percent less than asking price and homes are taking longer to sell.

The Dow rose along with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq as investors await news on whether lawmakers can agree to avoid a federal government shutdown.

Financial logic suggests Microsoft bonds should have higher yields than those of the U.S. government: Treasurys are easier to trade, are issued at a lower yield than Microsoft and have tax benefits for Americans.

Existing-homes sales fell 0.2% last month from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4 million, NAR reported on Thursday.

As policymakers weigh the merits of lower US borrowing costs after the Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate in September for the first time this year, a new question is starting to gain urgency — whether the central bank is targeting the right benchmark rate in the first place.