Markets on edge as debt limit debate drags on
Continuing with a week of losses, the Dow closed 97 points lower, the S&P 500 lost 8 points, and the Nasdaq fell 10
President Barack Obama is seen on four television screens in the Credit Suisse booth of Robert Moran, right, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange July 29, 2011. The president says there are multiple ways to resolve the debt ceiling mess, but it has to be bipartisan and it has to happen fast.
Richard Drew / AP
Financial markets are growing increasingly anxious as the nation edges closer to defaulting on its debt.
Yields on one-month Treasury bills surpassed those due in six months. That's a clear sign that markets see a default as a growing possibility if Congress does not raise the nation's debt ceiling before the August 2 deadline.
Stocks continued a weeklong slide that erased nearly 540 points from the Dow Jones industrial average.
The Dow is closing with a loss of 97 points, or 0.8 percent, to 12,143. The S&P 500 is down 8, or 0.6 percent, to 1,292. The Nasdaq is down 10, or 0.4 percent, to 2,756.
Two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume was above average at 4.5 billion shares.