S&P Announcement Puts Pressure on European Markets

European stocks dropped following Standard & Poor 's threat to downgrade 15 Euro zone countries.

(Reuters) - European stocks and the euro slid and most bond yields rose after the threat from rating agency Standard & Poor's to downgrade euro zone countries en masse if no credible plan to solve the debt crisis emerges at a summit later this week.

The unprecedented warning also brought to a halt a rally in global equities that began last week, with the MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS down about 0.3 percent.

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