Free Republic

Stock markets suffered another torrid day as traders on both sides of the Atlantic dumped shares on rumours of a downgrade of France’s credit rating and growing concerns over the eurozone economies. Asian markets were also down this morning, although they clawed back some of their losses later in the trading session. Japan's Nikkei slid 0.6pc, after falling as much as 2.3pc, while the Hang Seng fell 1.2pc in Hong Kong, after losing 2.6pc earlier in the day. Last night, a 3pc decline in the FTSE 100, down 157.76 to 5007.16, knocked £41bn off the blue-chip index. It has now...

Credit rating agency Standard and Poor's on Monday downgraded the debt of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The downgrades to AA+ are part of the continued fallout from the agency's decision to drop U.S. sovereign debt to AA+, an unprecedented move that rattled investors and sparked concern over the long-term impact of the action It was widely expected that S&P's downgrade of U.S. debt would roll downhill to other entities that are closely linked to the federal government.