Markets ignore cut in ratings

EUROPEAN stock markets showed moderate gains yesterday, as investors seemed not to be put off by the weekend’s widespread eurozone downgrading actions of credit rating giant Standard & Poor’s.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index managed to climb by 0.8% to its highest level since early August, after initially seeing a 0.5% fall in earlier trading.

In Paris, the CAC-40 was up by just under 1%, despite France losing its triple-A credit rating, but helped by a lowering in the country’s borrowing costs and a successful bond auction.