US STOCKS-Futures sharply lower on U.S. debt gridlock

* Top U.S. official warns of "stressful" days ahead

* Moody's cuts Greek sovereign debt rating

* Futures down: S&P 9.6 pts, Dow 87 pts, Nasdaq 13 pts

* For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US]

By Angela Moon

NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell
sharply on Monday as political brinkmanship in Washington over
the U.S. debt ceiling sparked fears of a U.S. rating downgrade,
sending world equities lower and pushing gold to a record
high.

* A divided U.S. Congress pursued rival budget plans that
appeared unlikely to win broad support, pushing the country
closer to a debt default. For details, see [ID:nN1E76M0B0]

* Analysts still expect a deal to raise the U.S. debt
ceiling by Aug. 2. But the impasse pushed the United States one
step closer to losing its coveted triple-A credit rating as
Democrats and Republicans seemed unlikely to agree on a deal.
[ID:nN1E76N0EP]

* White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley warned there would
be a "few stressful days" ahead for financial markets. But
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was confident a deal would
be reached. [ID:nN1E76N01Q]
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Full coverage of U.S. budget and debt [nUSBUDGET]
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* The political wrangling has weighed on equity markets,
but that has been somewhat offset by positive earnings news.
Major indexes notched solid gains last week, with the S&P 500
and Nasdaq rising more than 2 percent.

* S&P 500 futures SPc1 fell 9.6 points and were below
fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into
account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the
contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures DJc1 slid 87
points and Nasdaq 100 futures NDc1 lost 13 points.

* European shares lost ground in early trade, threatening a
one-week rally, as banking stocks dropped. U.S.-listed shares
of Barclays (BCS.N) fell 3.2 percent to $15.10 in premarket
trade.

* Gold surged to a record high above $1,620 an ounce in
Asian trading, the fifth record high for bullion in less than
two weeks.

* Also rattling investors, credit rating agency Moody's cut
Greece's sovereign debt by three notches on Monday to 'Ca',
just one level above default. Greece has the lowest rating of
any country in the world covered by Moody's. [ID:nL3E7IP0P2]

* Kimberly-Clark Corp (KMB.N) reported results early
Monday. [ID:nASA02I9W]

* Investors also awaited earnings from Texas Instruments
Inc TXN.N and Anadarko Petroleum Corp (APC.N).

* On Friday, promising chipmaker earnings and optimism
about a debt deal triggered a move into growth-oriented shares
such as techs.
(Reporting by Angela Moon; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)