European shares fell Monday and the euro was stuck at 17-month lows against the dollar while German government bonds eased after early gains on fears that S&P's mass euro zone sovereign rating cuts and a Greek debt standoff would worsen the region's debt crisis. Rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded nine of the euro zone's 17 countries on Friday, with France and Austria losing their top-notch status, and said it would decide shortly whether to cut the euro zone's bailout fund from triple-A. Adding to jitters, talks have stalled over a Greek bailout, putting Athens under strong pressure to complete a deal with private creditors to cut debt to more sustainable levels or risk default in March when 14.5 billion euros in repayments fall due. “I see very little upside for the euro in the coming weeks. There are still too many negatives and too many uncertainties,” said Niels Christensen, currency strategist at Nordea in Copenhagen. “All the signals from S&P were that the crisis will get worse before it gets better and I struggle to find an argument for not being short of euro/dollar at the moment.”
