Spain is amongst a number of eurozone countries downgraded again by ratings agency Moody's. The agency also downgraded Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Malta.

Moody's put France, Britain and Austria on "negative outlook", which implies there is a 30% chance of a downgrade in the next 18 months.

Spain received the sharpest downgrade, having its credit rating lowered two notches to 'A3'.  Italy was cut by one notch to 'A3' and Portugal was lowered by a smaller margin - a step to 'Ba3'.

In its report, Moody's attributed its moves to "the uncertainty over the euro area's prospects for institutional reform of its fiscal and economic framework" and said weak growth could hamper Europe's efforts to deliver economic reform and austerity measures.

Martin Hennecke, associate director of independent investment advisers, Tyche, commented, "The picture is very bleak. The economies in the eurozone aren't improving. Italy in the fourth quarter of last year has gone deeper into recession. [In] Spain there's also no growth this year, [and] the unemployment numbers have been rising."