The New CS Board

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Moody's Downgrades Italy by Two Notches

Moody's Investors Service on Friday downgraded Italy's government bond rating by two notches to Baa2 from A3, and warned it could cut it much further if the country were to lose access to debt markets.

The move left Italy's rating just two notches above junk status and could raise its borrowing costs ahead of a bond sale due later on Friday. The news knocked the euro [EUR=X 1.219 -0.0006 (-0.05%) ] down around a quarter of a cent to $1.2190 in Asian trade.

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