2023-08-02 11:21:43
Nervous session on the world stock markets after the Fitch agency’s decision to lower the long-term US debt note by one notch, snatching the ‘Triple A’ (the highest rating) from the world’s leading power.
The downgrade reflects the expected fiscal deterioration over the next three years, the burden of high and growing government debt, and the erosion of governance over the past two decades, which has repeatedly manifested itself in disputes over debt limits. and last minute resolutions”, explains Juan José Fernández-Figares, analyst at Link Securities.
In its report, Fitch also considers more rigid credit conditions for the coming months, which would accelerate the weakening of business investment and a slowdown in consumption that could push the country into a “moderate recession” in the fourth quarter of this year or the first of the next.
After adjustment, the US rating stands at AA+. “It is a negative surprise, but with a limited impact on the market,” Bankinter analysts trust. An idea that the US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, has also wanted to convey, who harshly criticized a decision that she considers “arbitrary” and made on the basis of “outdated data.”
Market reaction
It must be borne in mind that, although they lost much of their prestige during the previous financial crisis, the ratings of the rating agencies are still essential to measure the probability of default of a country or a company. These ‘notes’ serve, in fact, as a reference in the decisions of many investors. And even many funds and other institutional ones are limited by brochure to bet on states or companies if their rating is low.
In this context, and although the US still maintains one of the best ratings in a global comparison, investors took the opportunity to collect benefits, causing heavy losses on Wall Street and in Europe.
The Ibex-35 – which already fell more than 3% in August – dropped 1.8% yesterday to 9,300 points, pressured above all by the collapse of Unicaja and Telefónica.
The financial entity left 5.8% after the Oceanwood fund announced the sale of 7.06% of the entity’s share capital for 187.5 million euros. As a consequence, the member of the board of directors of the company appointed by Oceanwood, David Vaamonde Juanatey, has submitted his resignation as proprietary director.
For its part, Telefónica fell 7% after Vodafone and 1&1 – one of the operator’s main clients – announced an agreement in Germany that hurts, and a lot, the company’s German subsidiary.
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