S&P mistakenly downgrades France, investigating the error

In a major goof-up, US-based ratings agencyStandard & Poor's accidentally disseminated a message to subscribersearlier on Friday that it has downgraded its top- notch credit rating of Francefrom 'AAA', but has since issued a clarification and is investigating the causeof the error.

"As a result of a technical error, amessage was automatically disseminated today to some subscribers of S&P'sGlobal Credit Portal suggesting that France's credit rating had beenchanged," S&P said.

"We are investigating the cause of theerror," it said, adding that the ratings of France remains at 'AAA/A-1+' with astable outlook and the incident is not related to any ratings surveillanceactivity.

SPECIAL: The dilemma before rating agencies

The erroneous communication which wasreceived by some S&P subscribers created panic in France, whichas Chair of the G-20 grouping has been trying to resolve the complex sovereigndebt problems of the euro zone nations.

According to reports, French FinanceMinister Francois Baroin described the episode as "quite shocking"and has asked regulators to investigate the cause.

"We will not allow any negativemessage to pass" to the market, he said, adding, "We have a strategy,a commitment in terms of deficit reduction."

The European stock markets are alreadygoing through an uncertain phase as the EU bloc is struggling to put in placean acceptable solution to resolve the Greece sovereign debt crisis.