Traders
work
on
the
floor
of
the
New
York
Stock
exchange
during
morning
trading
on
November
10,
2023
in
New
York
City.
Michael
M.
Santiago
|
Getty
Images
U.S.
stock
futures
inched
down
Sunday
night
after
Moody’s
Investors
Service
lowered
its
U.S.
credit
rating
outlook
to
negative
from
stable.
Dow
Jones
Industrial
Average
futures
dipped
54
points,
or
0.1%.
Futures
tied
to
the
S&P
500
and
Nasdaq-100
both
shed
0.2%.
Moody’s
on
Friday
underscored
the
U.S.’
“very
large”
fiscal
deficits
and
partisan
gridlock
in
Washington
as
contributing
factors
for
the
downgrade.
The
ratings
agency
reaffirmed
America’s
credit
rating
at
AAA,
the
highest
level.
This
comes
three
months
after
Fitch
lowered
the
U.S.
long-term
foreign
currency
issuer
default
rating
to
AA+
from
AAA,
also
citing
expected
fiscal
deterioration,
an
increasing
debt
burden
and
political
standoffs
on
fiscal
and
debt
issues.
“In
the
context
of
higher
interest
rates,
without
effective
fiscal
policy
measures
to
reduce
government
spending
or
increase
revenues,”
the
agency
said.
“Moody’s
expects
that
the
US’
fiscal
deficits
will
remain
very
large,
significantly
weakening
debt
affordability.”
While
there
is
“zero
default
risk
of
U.S.
debt,”
the
lower
credit
rating
outlook
remains
relevant
for
its
impact
on
the
attractiveness
of
the
debt
for
foreign
investors,
said
Jay
Hatfield,
CEO
at
Infrastructure
Capital
Management.
“The
U.S.
has
been
downgraded
because
our
budget
process
is
completely
broken.
That’s
really
the
crux
of
the
issue
—
that
there’s
no
real
organized
process
to
pass
a
budget.
That
does
impact
the
psyche
of
global
fund
ambassadors,”
said
Hatfield.
On
the
economic
data
front,
investors
will
be
keeping
an
eye
on
October’s
monthly
federal
budget,
as
well
as
the
Federal
Reserve
Bank
of
New
York’s
October
consumer
expectations
survey.
Fed
Governor
Lisa
Cook
is
also
scheduled
to
give
remarks
Monday
morning.
This
all
comes
ahead
of
the
monthly
consumer
price
index
data
on
Tuesday.
The
major
averages
are
coming
off
their
second
consecutive
week
of
gains.
The
S&P
500
rose
1.3%
the
previous
week,
while
the
Dow
and
Nasdaq
gained
about
0.7%
and
2.4%,
respectively.
