Moody's adds to confusion by maintaining France's AAA rating

Moody's has confirmed France's AAA credit rating, but said it was still reviewing whether it would maintain its "stable" outlook for the debt-laden country.

The announcement comes three days after rival agency Standard and Poor's downgraded France's top rating by one notch.

Fitch, the third major ratings agency, has also kept France at its top level and said it has no plans to review it this year.

Spain and Italy were hit by double downgrades in the S&P report card, piling pressure on governments and the euro in the run up to an EU summit on January 30.