U.S. stocks opened lower Monday as the federal government's debt limit deadline is looming large and the partial government shutdown dragged on into the 14th day.

During the weekend, congressional lawmakers' efforts to solve the fiscal stalemate failed. Senate Republicans on Saturday blocked an effort by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, to extend the government's borrowing authority through the end of 2014 without other conditions attached, a so-called "clean debt limit" bill.

President Barack Obama has reached out to House Republican leaders last week in an effort to break the fiscal deadlock. However, no common ground has yet been reached. The negotiation focus has now shifted to the Democratic-led Senate.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has told Congress that the federal government will reach its debt ceiling of 16.7 trillion U. S. dollars by Oct. 17 and that failure to raise it would lead to a catastrophic default.

On corporate earnings side, U.S. banking giants Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley are scheduled to report their quarterly earnings this week.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 70.45 points, or 0.46 percent, to 15,166.66 points. The S&P 500 dipped 7.25 points, or 0.43 percent, to 1,695.95 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 13.72 points, or 0.36 percent, to 3,778.15 points. Endi

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