The US stock markets were neutral as traders awaited information on resolving the debt ceiling talks.

The S&P 500 was up 0.1%, the NASDAQ Composite was up 0.4%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 89 points or 0.3% at 11:50 ET (15:50 GMT).

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, and President Joe Biden were scheduled to meet later today after officials worked over the weekend to reach a compromise. According to some estimates, the government may run out of choices to continue making payments as early as June 1 unless Congress raises the ceiling or suspends it.

According to economists and government officials, a default might destabilise the financial markets.

A default would cause chaos in financial markets and spike interest rates.

As the Federal Reserve gets ready to meet again next month to deliberate the next step in interest rate policy, uncertainty is looming over the markets. According to three-quarters of futures traders, the Fed will hold rates constant in June, a pause that will allow policymakers to evaluate the success of their recent initiatives.

James Bullard, the president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve, predicted two more rate rises this year, while Neel Kashkari, the president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, advocated for a pause in June.

The April Personal Consumption and Expenditure Index, a carefully watched inflation indicator, will provide the Fed with a significant data point on Friday.

Biden returned to the U.S. on Sunday, cutting short an Asia trip after the Group of Seven meeting of world leaders to finish the negotiations on the debt ceiling deal.

On Sunday, China forbade some sales of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) semiconductors to significant domestic industries, claiming national security. Micron’s stock dropped 2.6%.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), the parent company of Facebook, had a 1.8% increase in shares after receiving a $1.3 billion fine from European Union privacy regulators for moving user data to the United States.