Investors retreated today as gloom about Europe's economic prospects returned when credit ratings agency Moody downgraded France from its top rating.
London's FTSE 100 Index, which rallied more than 2% last night on optimism that the US will duck the looming package of automatic tax increases and spending cuts, fell 16.7 points to 5720.1.
The decline came on news that France's debt rating had been reduced from AAA to AA1, triggering falls for continental markets ahead of a meeting of eurozone finance ministers later today to discuss Greece's next tranche of aid.
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