WORLD shares were mostly higher Monday after President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached a final agreement on a deal to raise the U.S. national debt ceiling, though the measure requires approval by Congress.
Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Sydney and Shanghai advanced while Hong Kong fell. Markets in London and Seoul were closed for a holiday and U.S. markets will be closed Monday for Memorial Day.
The agreement on the U.S. debt eased what had been a potentially huge threat to markets worldwide. Biden and McCarthy worked over the weekend to try to ensure enough support in Congress to pass the measure before a June 5 deadline and avert a disruptive federal default.
“Markets are so far reacting cautiously. Buoyed, but cautious,” Clifford Bennett, chief economist at ACY Securities, said in a commentary.
“This agreement merely rolls the issue to potentially more politically friendly times post the Presidential election in two years. Nothing is certain in this regard, and it is possible resolution will be even more difficult then, than it has been on this occasion,” Bennett said. (AP)