- Ben Kwong, KGI Asia
European stocks edged lower after Fitch downgraded Greece's credit rating to ‘CCC', implying that the country is vulnerable and highly dependent on favourable economic conditions to fulfill its financial obligations. Meanwhile, Moody's cut ratings of 16 Spanish banks and put 10 banks on negative credit watch. The benchmark Stoxx 600 lost 1% while Germany's DAX and France's CAC tumbled by 1.18% and 1.20%, respectively.
"Markets are worried about Euro Zone bank deposit runs and an escalating banking crisis," said Neil MacKinnon, economist at VTB Capital.
"There is no resolution to the European problem yet, and we also had very disappointing US data, so overall, it's negative and it iwill further dent market sentiment," said Frances Cheung, a senior strategist, at Credit Agricole CIB.
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