At 9:53 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow slipped 0.2%, or 86.47 points, to 42,568.27; the broad S&P 500 dropped 0.6%, or 35.85 points, to 5,922.53; and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.81%, or 155.65 points, to 19,

HONG KONG (AP) — Global shares fell Monday and U.S. futures and the dollar also weakened after Moody’s Ratings downgraded the sovereign credit rating for the United States because of its failure to stem a rising tide of debt.

Moody’s cut the U.S.’s sovereign credit rating from Aa1 to Aaa. It was the last of the major credit-rating firms to strip the country of its triple-A rating. S&P Global Ratings downgraded U.S. debt in the summer of 2011.

The S&P 500 was 0.9 percent lower in early trading after Moody’s Ratings became the last of the three major credit-rating agencies to say the US federal government no longer deserves a top-tier “Aaa” rating.

Moody’s has downgraded the nation’s credit rating one notch to Aa1, leaving the U.S. without a top grade among any of the major rating agencies.

Stocks slip and bonds fall more sharply after Moody’s downgrades the US credit rating Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Strategists warned the move, announced after the market close on Friday, could spark some near-term selling in stocks and Treasurys.

Moody's Ratings downgraded the U.S. credit rating by one notch, from a pristine Aaa to Aa1, citing persistent and rising government debt as causing the move.

Moody's had investment grade rating on U.S. debt, ahead of the 2008 global financial crisis, current downgrade "not shocking," says expert.