France under fire: Moody's cuts AAA while Littlewood ups short

Moody's has stripped France of its AAA rating as Artemis' William Littlewood becomes the latest fund manager to turn more negative on the country.

Moody's cut France's credit rating last night by one notch from AAA to Aa1. The ratings agency maintained the negative outlook it had placed on the country's rating in February. The agency said France's ability to withstand future euro area shocks is diminishing as its own economic profile deteriorates. At the same time, its banks remain reliant on wholesale funding and exposed to other eurozone nations, while France's own credit exposure to the crisis has been increasing as a result of eurozone guarantees for peripheral nations, Moody's added. The decision leaves Fitch as the only...