A money changer counts U.S. dollar banknotes at a currency exchange office in Ankara, Turkey November 11, 2021. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan/File PhotoA look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Brigid RileyFitch delivered the markets a doozy of a surprise with an unexpected downgrade of the U.S. government's credit rating, by one notch to AA+ from AAA, citing concerns over governance and U.S. debt. Japan's Nikkei (.N225) suffered a 1.8% drop, but that's after hovering near post-Bubble highs for most of the past two months. Chinese markets also took a big hit, led by a 2% drop for Hong Kong's Hang Seng. But again, these are markets that had been supported by now-waning hopes for big-bang economic stimulus from Beijing.

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Persons: Cagla, Brigid Riley Fitch, Biden, Brigid Riley, Kevin Buckland, Edmund Klamann Organizations: REUTERS, AAA, Treasury, NASDAQ, Japan's Nikkei, Swiss PMI, Thomson Locations: Ankara, Turkey, U.S, Beijing, China's, Swiss, Spain