Moody's Investors Service says the United States will retain its triple-A bond rating following passage of legislation to boost the debt ceiling. But the rating agency says it is lowering the outlook for possible future changes to negative.

Moody's says in a statement the bill signed into law by President Barack Obama on Tuesday had virtually eliminated the risk of a default by the government on its debts.

Moody's assigned a negative outlook to the triple-A rating to show that there is still be a risk of a downgrade if the government's fiscal discipline weakens.

Fellow ratings agency Fitch Ratings took similar action earlier in the day.