Global stocks fell and the euro remained under pressure as a string of economic reports in the US failed to offset the gloom sparked late on Monday by Moody’s, which downgraded six European countries and put the UK, France and Austria on negative outlook, the FT reports. The FTSE All-World equity index fell 0.4 per cent and commodities were mostly weak, with copper shedding 0.7 per cent to $3.81 a pound. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 closed 0.1 per cent lower and the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was off 0.3 per cent. The dollar index was up 0.6 per cent and yields on 10-year Treasuries fell 3 basis points to 1.94 per cent. Gold prices were volatile and the precious metal closed 0.4 per cent at $1,714 an ounce. The credit rating agency’s move reminded traders that a bail-out agreement for Greece, which bolstered sentiment at the start of the week, does not remove sovereign debt risks in the region and might leave many growth assets vulnerable to profit-taking, given their recent good run. French and UK bonds saw sellers, nudging yields higher by several basis points. After initial gains, the single currency traded lower for most of the session and closed down 0.5 per cent at $1.3119. Demand for the euro fell as a meeting of eurozone finance ministers set for Wednesday has been postponed. Read more