Crumbling Asian stocks was a result of the U.S. stalemate. Consequently, this has also affected the Australian market.

"It's a situation no one wants to be in causing market volatility," Angus Gluskie, managing director at White Funds Management Ltd. told Bloomberg Monday.

"The two political parties do need to reach an agreement. If there's no deal by Thursday, markets will fall further. Investors are getting a little bit concerned on China after seeing a couple of weak data points," Gluskie cited.

"The 'deal or no deal' game being played in Washington continues to wear down the markets, the sentiment is definitely bearish," Vito Henjoto, senior technical strategist at Invast Financial Services, said in a note to Reuters.

In as much as both parties - Republicans and Democrats - agreed that the debt ceiling should be alleviated and the government resume operations, they cannot reach a cohesive plan to ease the debt.

Among the Asian markets, China exports had remarkably fell since September as revealed by Oct. 12 data obtained by Reuters. China is major contributor to the Australian market as the country's largest export market.

At the 1615 AEDT official market close, the benchmark S&P the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 0.44 percent to 5,207.9 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index slipped 0.43 percent to 5,206.5 points, as reported by Markets Spectator.

"As the Oct. 17 deadline draws nearer, no real progress towards a deal by Congress could see sell-offs in the Australian share market and increasing demand for safe-haven currencies such as the Yen," FXCM market analyst David de Ferranti told Market Spectator.

  • BHP Billiton retreated 0.2 percent to $35.06
  • Rio Tinto inched up 0.11 percent to $61.65.
  • Fortescue Metalsfell 0.6 percent to $4.97
  • Whitehaven Coallost 2.19 percent to $1.785.
  • Newcrestshed 3.81 percent to $10.10.
  • ANZ Banking Group retreated 0.48 percent to $31.14, Commonwealth Bankrose 0.28 percent to $72.52.
  • National Australia Bank declined 0.32 percent to $34.76 and Westpac Banking Group slipped 0.12 percent to $32.95.
  • Investment bank Macquarie Group decreased 0.65 percent to $47.74.
  • QBE was flat at $14.29
  • Insurance Australia Group slipped 0.85 percent to $5.83
  • Suncorp dropped 1.08 percent to $12.78.
  • Santos fell 1.82 percent to $14.53
  • Oil Search rose 0.23 percent to $8.58
  • Woodside lifted 0.11 percent to $38.04.
  • Wesfarmers retreated 0.31 percent to $41.60
  • Woolworths lost 1.09 percent to $33.69.
  • Myer decreased 0.79 percent to $2.52
  • David Jones retreated 0.71 percent to $2.78.
  • Harvey Norman rose 0.32 percent to $3.14
  • JB Hi-Fi lifted 0.1 percent to $20.93.
  • Fairfax Media fell 0.94 percent to 52.5 cents
  • 21st Century Fox rose 0.14 percent to $34.85
  • News Corp added 1.08 percent to $17.77.
  • Ten Network rose 1.79 percent to 28.5 cents
  • Southern Cross Media lost 0.28 percent to $1.78
  • Seven West was flat at $2.35.
  • Blue chip Qantas slipped 1.7 percent to $1.445
  • Telstra lost 0.8 percent to $4.93.