Europe open: Moody´s downgrades six Eurozone nations

LONDON (ShareCast) - -Moody´s lowers outlook on Austria and France. -Moody´s downgrades Italy and Spain to A3. -Some central bankers think Greece will not avoid technical default-Handelsblatt -Bank of Japan (EUREX: FMJP.EX - news) unexpectedly adds 10trn Yen to asset repurchase program. FTSE-100: -038% Euro Stoxx 50 (Zurich: ^STOXX50E - news) : -0.34% Dax (Xetra: ^GDAXI - news) -30: -0.25% Cac (Frankfurt: 924169 - news) -40: -0.43% Ibex 35 (Madrid: IBEX.MC - news) : -0.53% The main European equity benchmarks are now registering modest losses. That after ratings agency Moody´s announced last night its decision to downgrade its debt ratings on six Eurozone nations (Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia and Slovenia), while at the same time lowering its outlook on debt issued by Austria, France and the United Kingdom. Moody's believes that there is considerable uncertainty over the euro area's prospects for institutional reform of its fiscal and economic framework and over the resources that will be made available to deal with the crisis. Moreover, Europe (Chicago Options: ^REURUSD - news) 's weak macroeconomic outlook complicates the implementation of domestic austerity programs and the structural reforms that are needed to promote competitiveness. Acting as a backdrop, many investors are now watching events in Brussels to gauge how Greece´s European public sector creditors participate in any rescue package. This as Eurozone finance ministers are expected to meet tomorrow to analyze the country´s situation. EQUITIES Shares in Germany´s largest steel maker Thyssen Krupp (Xetra: 750000 - news) are registering a very large drop after posting a first quarter loss on the back of project delays. Private equity investors in Danish telecommunications group TDC (Stuttgart: A1CYEY - news) are offering shares at a discount. French cosmetics maker L´oreal said it was confident it would increase revenue and profit again this year thanks to growth in emerging markets. From a sector stand-point the worst performers now are: basic resources (-1.04%), banks (-0.55%) and insurance (-0.70%). MACROECONOMY Eurozone industrial production figures for the month of December are due out at 10am. The ZEW Institute´s economic sentiment index for Germany will be released at 10am. French non-farm payrolls grew by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the last three months of 2011. OTHER MARKETS Front month Brent crude futures are now falling by 0.546% to the $117.29/barrel mark on ICE. The euro/dollar is now trading flat at 1.3170. AB