With the world wondering what the financial implications of a US default would be, the US has at last found a political route and an agreement of sorts to raise the debt ceiling, allied to spending cuts.

With just a day left before defaulting on various repayment obligations,this has been the ultimate in brinkmanshp, announced just before the opening of the Asian markets, that surged close to 2% up on the news. Futures markets are also forecasting positive gains across the board for European and US equity markets.

The deadline has forced unwanted compromise on all parties and may not be the best deal in the world, cutting over US$1trillion from the budget over ten years but without it, today's markets could have been heading for financial chaos.

There is still the small matter of the raise in the ceiling being voted through congress later today but this must surely be part of the agreement.