| Asian stock markets were lower on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei index falling after a leading credit ratings agency downgraded the country's long-term sovereign debt rating on concern over its massive debt. Meanwhile, investors traded with caution ahead of Friday's release of U.S. growth data in the October-December quarter. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average lost 96.69 points, or 0.9 percent, to 10,381.97 in the morning session. Investors dumped shares in banks, which own large amounts of government bonds. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan's biggest bank, fell 3 percent to 432 yen ($5.2). Mizuho Financial Group, Japan's No. 2 banking group, declined 3 percent to 159 yen. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group was down 2.3 percent at 2,851 yen. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.5 percent at 4,884.10. South Korea's Kospi declined 0.7 percent to 2,099.62. Standard & Poor's slashed Japan's credit rating for the first time in almost nine years Thursday, issuing a harsh critique of the government's ability to control its ballooning debt. |
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