Markets on edge as debt limit debate drags on

Financial markets are growing increasingly anxious as the nation edges closer to defaulting on its debt.

Yields on one-month Treasury bills surpassed those due in six months. That's a clear sign that markets see a default as a growing possibility if Congress does not raise the nation's debt ceiling before the August 2 deadline.

Stocks continued a weeklong slide that erased nearly 540 points from the Dow Jones industrial average.

The Dow is closing with a loss of 97 points, or 0.8 percent, to 12,143. The S&P 500 is down 8, or 0.6 percent, to 1,292. The Nasdaq is down 10, or 0.4 percent, to 2,756.

Two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume was above average at 4.5 billion shares.