Moody's downgraded United States' credit rating

On Friday, Moody's became the third agency after Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings to strip the United States of its top credit rating. The organization cut its assessment of the United States' financial reliability from AAA to Aa1 amid growing concerns about the country's burgeoning national debt and budget deficit. At the same time, Moody's changed the outlook for the US rating from negative to stable.

As the agency representatives commented, the United States still has significant economic and financial advantages, but they no longer fully compensate for the decline in fiscal indicators.

Moody's experts believe that the negative dynamics is caused by the rapid increase in the budget deficit, which shows no signs of slowing. As noted by Bloomberg, lawmakers in Washington were working on a large-scale tax and spending bill on Friday. It could add trillions of dollars to the federal debt in the coming years, according to estimates cited by the agency.

Major financial markets reacted quickly to Moody's decision, with the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds rising to 4.49%. Meanwhile, the exchange-traded fund that tracks the S&P 500 index fell 0.6% during Friday's post-market trading.