A man walks through a plaza at the new Fannie Mae headquarters in Washington, U.S., October 4, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueAug 2 (Reuters) - Ratings agency Fitch on Wednesday downgraded U.S. mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) and senior unsecured debt ratings to 'AA+' from 'AAA' after the U.S. rating downgrade on Tuesday. The agency said the cut was a result of Tuesday's downgrade and was "not being driven by fundamental credit, capital or liquidity deterioration at firms". "The downgrade to the ratings of Fannie and Freddie was a certainty after Fitch's downgrade of the US rating since the two ratings are linked," said Gennadiy Goldberg, Head of US Rates Strategy at TD Securities. The move to cut U.S ratings on Tuesday drew an angry response from the White House and surprised investors, coming despite the resolution of the debt ceiling crisis two months ago.

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Persons: Fannie Mae, Kevin Lamarque, Fitch, Freddie Mac Long, Fannie, Freddie, Gennadiy Goldberg, Urvi, Megan Davies, Chris Reese, Sandra Maler Organizations: REUTERS, AAA, U.S, TD Securities, White, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Bengaluru, New York