President Barack Obama has signed legislation to increase the US debt ceiling and avert¹ a financial default, after Congress voted in favour of a bipartisan compromise deal.

美国国会两党连立投票通过关于提高债务限额和避免财务困境的决议，总统奥巴马已签署该法案。

The bill cleared its final hurdle² in the Senate by 74 votes to 26, after negotiations³ went down to the wire.

It raises the debt limit by up to $2.4tn (£1.5tn) from $14.3tn, and makes savings⁴ of at least $2.1tn in 10 years.

But the bill's passage failed to lift financial markets.

On Wall Street stocks ended Tuesday down by more than 2%, amid poor consumer spending data for June.

Japan's Nikkei index followed suit（跟着做） , finishing Wednesday morning down by about the same amount.

Moody's rating agency reacted to the bill by placing Washington's AAA credit score under a "negative outlook". Chinese credit agency Dagong downgraded its rating of the US from A+ to A, Xinhua news agency reported.

The bill's signing came just 10 hours before the expiry（期满） of a deadline for Washington to raise its borrowing limit, after drawn-out talks between Republicans, Democrats⁵ and the White House.

Without a deal to raise the debt ceiling, the US would have been unable to meet all its bills, the treasury⁶ department had warned.

Speaking at the White House shortly after the decisive vote in the Senate, President Obama said it was "pretty likely that the uncertainty⁷ surrounding the raising of the debt ceiling for businesses and consumers has been unsettling（动乱不定） ".

"It's something we could have avoided entirely," he added.

The president said more action was needed, saying it was impossible for the US to "close the deficit⁸ with just spending cuts".

He urged Congress to now look to boost the economy through measures to create jobs and increase consumer confidence.

"We can't balance the budget on the backs of the very people who have borne the biggest brunt of this recession," President Obama said, reprising one of his key themes of recent weeks.