RTRS: GLOBAL MARKETS-Moody's rating cut hit euro, Irish bonds
Euro falls as Moody's cuts Ireland to just above "junk"
* Yields on euro zone peripheral government bonds rise
* World stocks, Brent crude ease; gold hit record
* China inflation confirms surge higher in March
By Dominic Lau
LONDON, April 15 (Reuters) - The euro fell along with bond prices in its most-indebted member states on Friday after Moody's cut Ireland's rating to just above "junk" and as concerns weighed over Greek debt restructuring.
Greece's Prime Minister George Papandreou on Friday gave little detail on how the country would achieve fresh austerity and privatisation plans to bolster its finances and avoid restructuring its debt. [ID:nLDE73E0UH]
Equities in Greece and other debt-troubled euro zone economies fell, though Ireland's share benchmark advanced. U.S. stocks index futures SPc1 DJc1 NDc1 were down 0.1 to 0.2 percent, indicating a weak Wall Street open.
Brent crude also slipped on concerns over further monetary tightening in China after inflation there surged to a 32-month high, though the news lifted gold to another record high. [ID:nL3E7FF0AC]
"The fact that Moody's downgraded Ireland is certainly not helpful for sentiment," said Philippe Gijsels, head of research at BNP Paribas Fortis Global Markets.
"It once again shows that the troubles facing the euro zone are not completely behind us and may resurface at any given point. Over the next couple of months we will probably be looking at a weaker and more nervous market."
Moody's cut Ireland to two notches below the ratings of both Fitch and Standard & Poor's and left its outlook on negative, among other things pointing to the damage further rises in euro zone interest rates would do to its economy. [ID:nLDE73E0DU]
Greece will spell out fresh fiscal and privatisation plans in a few weeks, said its prime minister, who had been expected to present the broad outline of measures to save about 23 billion euros ($33 billion) to bring its budget deficit to around 1 percent in 2015 from around 10 percent in 2010.
Yields on 10-year Irish government bonds IE10YT=TWEB rose 10 basis points to 9.607 percent, while those on 10-year Greek bonds GR10YT=TWEB were up 6 bps to 13.492 percent.
The cost of insuring against a default by Greece and Ireland rose, with five-year Greek credit default swaps up 15 bps to 1,105 bps and the five-year Irish CDS up 10 bps to 555 bps.
