Signs of stress start to build in markets as debt ceiling deadline looms

Signs of stress are building as the deadline for lawmakers to act on the debt ceiling approaches, and negotiations are strained.

Market indicators this week suggest rising fear about the possibility of the Treasury missing payments after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday that the U.S. may be unable to pay its obligations as soon as June 1.

The date, less than a month away, upped the urgency for a solution.

“Now that we’re potentially within a month of hitting the debt limit, now lawmakers are firing with real bullets,” Brian Riedl of the Manhattan Institute told the Washington Examiner. “Delays and refusals to negotiate will soon be getting to the point where it creates a legitimate danger of going off a cliff.”