Obama Signs Debt Deal Into Law

President Barack Obama signed into law a new bill that will raise the nation's debt ceiling and avoid a default by the world's top economy, the White House said.

Obama signed the bill shortly after it passed the Senate by 74 to 26 votes, a day after it cleared the House of Representatives by an overwhelming 269 to 161 margin.

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters "the president has signed the bill and turned it into law."

The stock market did not react favorably to the news.

At 2:45 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.54%, the S&P 500 was down 1.87% and NASDAQ was down 1.98%.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2011