Last Friday, the rating agency Moody's downgraded the outlook for the US credit rating from stable to negative. The credit rating itself is not affected by this.

The rating agency justified this step primarily with the enormous US budget deficit, but the political situation in the USA also played a role in the decision. The USA is once again facing a possible government shutdown if the federal budget is not passed this week. The creditworthiness of the United States retains its AAA rating. However, following this decision, it cannot be ruled out that this could change in the future. Moody's is the only one of the three major rating agencies that still has the top rating for the USA's creditworthiness. Both Fitch and S&P had already lowered their ratings by one grade.

The downgraded outlook for the credit rating could have an impact on the bond market. Bond yields could rise due to the higher risk. In the current situation on the financial markets, this would in turn have a negative impact on the stock markets. The first signs of a slowdown in the US economy are emerging and investors could shy away from the risk of stocks and flee to the high yields of bonds. The indices on the US stock markets initially reacted with a moderate fall in pre-market trading on Monday. At the opening of the US market, the Dow Jones was down 0.12%, the S&P was down 0.30% and the Nasdaq was down 0.46%.