Standard and Poor's raises U.S. credit outlookJune 10, 2013 - 20:00 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Rating agency Standard and Poor's has raised its credit outlook for the U.S. economy from negative to stable, BBC News reported. In August 2011, S&P downgraded the U.S. rating one notch from AAA to AA+, but now believes further downgrades are less likely as the economy continues to recover. The news saw the U.S. dollar strengthen 1.3% against the Japanese yen, and 0.2% against the euro. But S&P is still concerned about the high levels of U.S. debt. The move came as the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said that economic growth in the U.S. and Japan was outstripping that of the eurozone. But most U.S. analysts remained cautious about the upgrade and the equity markets opened only slightly higher. Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington DC, said: "The revised rating is positive news for the dollar but I do not see it being a major catalyst. "This is just the latest indication that we are seeing a broad stabilisation and improvement in the economy and ultimately the government's fiscal position is improving, albeit slowly." Rival rating agencies Moody's and Fitch have both kept their AAA ratings for the U.S. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Putin congratulates Pashinyan’s birthday Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his birthday on June 1. Opposition motorcade en route to Gyumri for large rally A motorcade of protesters headed by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is heading to the city of Gyumri. Ruling MPs, Foreign Minister talk Armenia-Azerbaijan processes MOs from the ruling Civil Contract party met with the Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in the Armenian parliament. Russia: Armenia’s frozen membership weakens CSTO position in Caucasus A Russian envoy said any step that could alienate the CSTO member states from each other is “deeply wrong”. |