US STOCKS-Wall St set to drop at open on Washington deadlock

* Debt ceiling deadline draws closer

* Cooper Tire slumps on buyout squabble

* Futures off: Dow 110 pts, S&P 13.1 pts, Nasdaq 20.75 pts

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK, Oct (KOSDAQ: 039200.KQ - news) 7 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were poised for a lower open on Monday as the partial U.S. government shutdown dragged on with no signs of a softening in the positions of politicians over the debt-ceiling limit or budget impasse.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner vowed on Sunday not to raise the U.S. debt ceiling without a "serious conversation" about what is driving the debt, while Democrats said it was irresponsible and reckless to raise the possibility of a U.S. default.

The United States faces a deadline of Oct. 17 to raise its $16.7 trillion debt limit or risk an unprecedented debt default. The two issues of emergency funding for the government to operate and increase the U.S. borrowing authority started out separately in the House but have been merged by the pressure of time.

"Now you've got not only the budget but the debt ceiling and time is running out and everybody knows it, including (the politicians)," said Terry Morris, senior vice president and senior equity manager for National Penn Investors Trust Company in Reading, Pennsylvania.

"The longer this goes on, the more the uncertainty, the closer the deadline and the more nervous investors are going to be."

The S&P 500 has fallen two straight weeks and is down 2 percent from its all-time closing high of 1,725.52 on concerns about the effect of dysfunction in Washington on the economy.

S&P 500 futures fell 13.1 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 (DJI: ^DJI - news) industrial average futures lost 110 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 20.75 points.

Apollo Tyres (BSE: APOLLOTYRE.BO - news) of India and U.S.-based Cooper Tire & Rubber Co disagree over whether Apollo should pay a lower price in its $2.5 billion takeover, the latest hurdle in a deal beset by lawsuits, labor issues and unhappy Apollo investors. Cooper Tire shares slumped 12.1 percent to $25.95 in premarket trade.

U.S.-listed shares of BlackBerry rose 4.6 percent to $8.04 before the opening bell after several sources close to the matter said it is in talks with Cisco Systems (NasdaqGS: CSCO - news) , Google Inc (NasdaqGS: GOOG - news) and SAP (LSE: 0NW4.L - news) about selling them all or parts of BlackBerry.

Private equity (Swiss: PEHN.SW - news) firm KKR & Co LP is nearing a deal to acquire lifting equipment company Crosby Group LLC for around $1 billion, two people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

Food waste recycler Darling International Inc (NYSE: DAR - news) said it would buy Vion Ingredients, a unit of privately held Vion Holding NV, for 1.6 billion euros ($2.18 billion).