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90 seconds at 9am: UK, US downgrade threat; Greece downgraded; Japan's new stimulus

90 seconds at 9am: UK, US downgrade threat; Greece downgraded; Japan's new stimulus

Bernard Hickey details the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9am, including news that Moody's has warned it may have to cut Britain's and America's AAA sovereign credit ratings if they can't get their budget deficits under control by 2013, Bloomberg reported. Meanwhile, Japan announced a new budget stimulus to spend US$80 billion to try to jump-start the economy out of a third decade of stagflation stagnation  the FT.com reported. In Europe, Fitch downgraded Greece's credit rating to BBB+ and Standard and Poor's threatened a downgrade because of its parlous budget and current account deficit positions. This dragged global stocks lower and pushed the US dollar higher as investors opted for safety in US dollars. This drove the NZ$ down below 71 US cents. Finally in New Zealand, Allied Farmers investors voted over 85% in favour of their bid for Hanover Finance. This bid will be decided next Wednesday when Hanover Finance investors vote in Auckland.

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