BARACK OBAMA

Japan's top government spokesman welcomed the U.S. debt ceiling agreement on Monday and said he hoped it would stabilise markets.

"The leaders of both parties, in both chambers, have reached an agreement that will reduce the deficit and avoid default," President Obama announced Sunday night. The long-awaited and momentous agreement would cut 1 trillion dollars from a 10-year budget and raise the debt ceiling to beyond the 2012 elections.

A weary-looking President Obama told reporters late Sunday that a deal had been reached between the leaders of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives to raise the federal debt ceiling and avoid the first U.S. default, although a series of votes by all members in Congress is needed to make the ceiling raise a reality.

President Barack Obama said on Sunday that Democrat and Republican leaders had reached an agreement to reduce the U.S. deficit and avoid default, but it was not clear if the spending cuts were deep enough to stave off a credit rating downgrade. The White House said the compromise would cut about $2.5 trillion from the deficit over the next 10 years but the reductions would not happen so quickly that they would drag on the fragile U.S. economy.

President Obama and House Majority Leader John Boehner have agreed to a deal to raise the debt ceiling and cut spending by $1 trillion over the next 10 years.

The leaders of America have announced a deal to raise the debt ceiling, cut spending by $1 trillion in the next 10 years, and avert a government default come August 2.

Two days before a financial market-rocking U.S. Government default, President Barack Obama Sunday night announced that leaders of both major political parties have reached a debt deal agreement to reduce the U.S. deficit and avert a default. Both the Senate and the House are expected to vote on the bill Monday.

President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner, and Democratic lawmakers struck a deal and averted a government default come August 2. The deal will cut $1 trillion in spending over 10 years, announced Obama, reported Reuters.

Lawmakers were close to a last-ditch $3 trillion deal on Sunday to raise the U.S. borrowing limit and assure jittery financial markets that the United States will avoid a potentially catastrophic default.

President Barack Obama told reporters Sunday that a deal has been reached to raise the federal debt ceiling and avoid the first U.S. default, the culmination of days of high-level, high-stakes political wrangling to attempt to resolve the nation's large deficits.

A deal to raise the federal debt ceiling and avoid the first ever U.S. default is "very close," but House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Sunday there is a chance they may not pass it.

The Senate failed to advance Harry Reid's debt-ceiling plan, but leaders from both sides remained optimistic Sunday a deal can be reached before the Aug. 2 deadline to raise the U.S. debt ceiling.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is pushing ahead with a Senate vote on his debt plan, but the GOP votes are not there. Still, Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday negotiators were "very, very close" to a deal.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday negotiators were "very, very close" to a deal to raise the debt ceiling. But Democratic leaders remain cautious. The deal is not done, they say.

It was John Lennon who said there are no problems, only solutions, and on Sunday Congressional Democrats and Republicans continued to work on a bill that would avert a dreaded U.S. Government default. If the two sides continue to make progress, a vote on the bill could occur as early as Sunday night.

Congress is "very, very close" to a debt ceiling deal, according to Senator Mitch McConnell. Negotiators are discussing final details, and the deal is not done yet, but they say its close.

Even though the congressional leaders had all the time in the world to strike a deal on the issue of debt-ceiling raise, they seem to be shamelessly waiting for an 11th hour drama. Technically speaking, Aug. 2 is the end of grace period for extraordinary measures and the U.S. borrowing limit, currently at $14.29 trillion, was reached on May 16 this year. Instead of getting things done Democrats and the Republicans seem to get a kick out of the 'blamestorming game'.

After two weeks of acrimony, Democrats and Republicans, perhaps after having stared into the abyss, returned to the bargaining table Saturday. Still, no one will believe the issue has been resolved until President Barack Obama signs a bill that raises the debt ceiling and cuts the budget deficit.

Top congressional Republicans said on Saturday they were in serious talks with President Barack Obama to break a U.S. debt limit deadlock and were confident the risk of default by the world's largest economy could be avoided.

Finally, after weeks of incessant, heated rhetoric and counter-productive posturing, there's been a positive development in the debt talks. The White House and both Republican and Democratic leaders Saturday confirmed that they are now in serious talks to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a looming U.S. Government default.

Stocks are likely to face more selling pressure next week as the Tuesday deadline draws near for raising the U.S. debt ceiling and Washington remains paralyzed by political brinkmanship.