Initially, the leading indexes traded downwards, but at closing, all pointed slightly upwards. The Dow Jones industrial index rose 0.3 percent, the broad S&P 500 index rose 0.1 percent, and the Nasdaq composite index traded sideways.
Moody's downgraded the rating from AAA to Aa1 on Friday. A similar downgrade has previously been made by Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings. This means that the world's largest economy has fallen from the highest credit rating.
Among the losers are, among others, IT giant Apple, down 1.2 percent, electric car manufacturer Tesla, down 2.3 percent, and Advanced Micro Devices, minus 2.1 percent.
At the other end, vaccine manufacturer Novavax surged 15.0 percent after the US drug authority approved the company's coronavirus vaccine for the elderly.
