Nine Euro Nations’ Ratings Cut
Jan 13, 2012 22:31:34 GMT -5
Post by Michael Downing on Jan 13, 2012 22:31:34 GMT -5
Germany remains the single strongest economy in Europe but how long will they agree to help prop up the rest of the failing nations? Well before the 2012 election the Euro crisis will go critical and its effect on the US and the largest banks holding Euro loan guarantees will be a game changer and not for the better...
Nine Euro Nations’ Ratings Cut, Seven Affirmed by S&P
France and Austria lost their top credit ratings in a string of downgrades that left Germany with the euro area’s only stable AAA grade as Standard & Poor’s warned that crisis-fighting efforts are still falling short.
France and Austria were cut one level to AA+ from AAA and face the risk of further reductions, the rating company said in Frankfurt late yesterday. While Finland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg kept their AAA ratings, they were put on negative watch. Spain and Italy were also among the nine nations downgraded.
“In our view, the policy initiatives taken by European policy makers in recent weeks may be insufficient to fully address ongoing systemic stresses in the euro zone,” S&P said in a statement.
The first gauge of the report’s impact will come in two days when France sells as much as 8.7 billion euros ($11 billion) in bills. History shows yields may not rise much, at least initially. Ten-year yields for the nine sovereign borrowers that lost their AAA ratings between 1998 and the U.S.’s downgrade in August rose an average of two basis points in the following week, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-13/france-to-lose-aaa-from-s-p-afp-says-citing-state-official.html
Nine Euro Nations’ Ratings Cut, Seven Affirmed by S&P
France and Austria lost their top credit ratings in a string of downgrades that left Germany with the euro area’s only stable AAA grade as Standard & Poor’s warned that crisis-fighting efforts are still falling short.
France and Austria were cut one level to AA+ from AAA and face the risk of further reductions, the rating company said in Frankfurt late yesterday. While Finland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg kept their AAA ratings, they were put on negative watch. Spain and Italy were also among the nine nations downgraded.
“In our view, the policy initiatives taken by European policy makers in recent weeks may be insufficient to fully address ongoing systemic stresses in the euro zone,” S&P said in a statement.
The first gauge of the report’s impact will come in two days when France sells as much as 8.7 billion euros ($11 billion) in bills. History shows yields may not rise much, at least initially. Ten-year yields for the nine sovereign borrowers that lost their AAA ratings between 1998 and the U.S.’s downgrade in August rose an average of two basis points in the following week, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-13/france-to-lose-aaa-from-s-p-afp-says-citing-state-official.html