(Reuters) – Rankings company Fitch on Friday positioned a raft of U.S. government-related securities on look ahead to a attainable downgrade, as talks over the debt ceiling dragged on.

Fitch mentioned it has positioned the “AAA” scores of sure classes of debt which can be instantly tied to the creditworthiness of the U.S. or its associated entities on damaging watch.

Drawn-out negotiations between the White Home and Republicans to boost the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling have unnerved markets and fanned worries concerning the financial impression of a attainable default.

Fitch on Wednesday had warned that the U.S. credit standing might be downgraded if a debt ceiling deal was not reached quickly. It additionally positioned scores of U.S. mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (OTC:) on look ahead to a attainable downgrade on Thursday.

Different international ranking companies have additionally notified of a downgrade of the nation if a deal just isn’t reached quickly. A downgrade may have an effect on the pricing of trillions of {dollars} of Treasury debt securities.