Five Eurozone Nations to Be Downgraded by S&P

(Newsroom America) -- Reports Friday said Standard & Poor's is moving to downgrade the AAA credit ratings of five European nations by at least one notch.

French newspaper Les Echos reported that S&P will Italy, Spain and Portugal by two notches and downgrade France and Austria by one notch. No sources were cited for the report.

Spared in the downgrade are Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Luxembourg, the report said.

The move was not unexpected, analysts said, noting that S&P has been contemplating downgrading struggling Eurozone economies for months.

The French paper, citing sources, said the formal announcement would likely come at around 4:30 pm ET, after the U.S. stock market has closed.

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