Rating downgrade for France, Austria, Italy and Spain

Standard & Poor’s tonight downgraded the credit ratings of France and Austria by one notch.

But Germany kept its AAA rating.

The cuts, which eliminated France and Austria's triple-A status, deal a heavy blow to the euro currency union's ability to fight off a worsening debt crisis.

Italy was lowered to BBB+ from A. Spain slipped to A from AA-.

The downgrades come as crucial talks on cutting Greece’s massive debt pile appeared close to collapse tonight.