The dollar slid to a five-month lows against a basket of major currencies on Friday after a warning that Britain's triple-A credit rating could be cut stoked worries the debt of the world's reserve currency could face the same fate. Standard & Poor's said on Thursday it could downgrade Britain's triple-A credit rating, a move that initially hit the pound but then sparked broad selling of U.S. stocks and bonds on fears that record U.S. deficits could lead to the same warning. The dollar index was on track for its biggest weekly fall since the Federal Reserve launched its large-scale purchases of U.S. Treasuries in late March, which slammed the reserve currency on worries the move could cause an effective devaluation. Minutes of the Fed's last policy meeting this week showed officials said they may need to boost such buying of Treasuries. "S&P gave a clear criteria that a country whose government debt burden is approaching 100 percent of GDP could have its rating downgraded. That prompted investors to think they should not be so optimistic about credit rating on the United States," said Hideki Amikura, deputy general manager of forex trading at Nomura Trust and Banking. The dollar's broad slide took it to a two-month low against the yen after Japanese Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said on Friday the country is not thinking about intervention in the currency market. The remarks came as market players have started to suspect that Japanese officials may consider intervening to prevent further yen strength. The yen's surge to 13-1/2-year peaks against the dollar earlier this year dealt a heavy blow to the country's big exporters, but Japan has refrained from intervention. The dollar index .DXY, a gauge of the greenback's performance against six major currencies, fell as low as 80.210 to the lowest since December and near the 50 percent retracement of its one-year rally through March this year. The dollar slipped 0.2 percent from late U.S. trade to 94.15 yen after hitting a low of 93.86 yen on trading platform EBS, the lowest since December. Dollar buying from Japanese importers helped limit losses, traders said. Market players said the dollar is likely to test the low of 93.55 reached in March, the spike low hit when the dollar plunged on the Fed's adoption of quantitative easing. If that level is broken, the dollar may test the 13-1/2-year low near 87.10. The euro was up 0.2 percent at $1.3923 but pulled back from a five-month high of $1.3957 on EBS as speculators covered short dollar positions ahead of a U.S. three-day weekend. Sterling was up 0.1 percent to $1.5860 after rising as high as $1.5898, its strongest since early November. Despite the S&P statement, the pound is up 4.5 percent on the week. U.S. financial markets will be closed on Monday for Memorial Day holiday, while British markets will also be shut for a bank holiday.

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