The dangers of investing in debt-laden economies were brought into focus yesterday as global equity markets lurched lower in response to downgrades for Greece's sovereign rating and the debt of six companies related to the Dubai government.
Investors, already rattled by a number of weaker-than-expected data releases in Europe, jumped into dollar and yen havens and the safety of high-quality government bonds.
Fitch cut Greece's sovereign debt rating to triple B plus and kept a negative outlook on the eurozone's weakest member – the first time in 10 years the country's debt rating has been graded below A by a major ratings agency. This followed the move on Monday by Standard & Poor's to put Greece on “credit watch with negative implications”.