S&P puts chances of U.S. credit downgrade at 50 percent

The credit-rating agency Standard & Poor's warned on Thursday that there is a 50 percent chance the agency will downgrade the United States' Aaa credit rating within the next three months as negotiators head toward the August 2 deadline with no debt-ceiling and deficit-reduction deal in sight.

In a statement, S&P put the United States on "CreditWatch with negative implications."

"Since we revised the outlook on our 'AAA' long-term rating to negative from stable on April 18, 2011, the political debate about the U.S.' fiscal stance and the related issue of the U.S. government debt ceiling has, in our view, only become more entangled. Despite months of negotiations, the two sides remain at odds on fundamental fiscal policy issues. Consequently, we believe there is an increasing risk of a substantial policy stalemate enduring beyond any near-term agreement to raise the debt ceiling," the statement read.

On Wednesday, ratings agency Moody's warned that it would put the government's credit rating on review, which could eventually lead to a downgrade.