BP gives up rally after downgrade

18th Jun 2010 18:03

BP gave up its rally Friday after a third credit rating agency downgraded its view of the stock. Moody's has cut BP's credit rating by three notches to A2 from Aa2. The downgrade comes after similar moves by Fitch and Standard & Poor's earlier in the week.Shares in BP had started the day building on yesterday's gain's even after US politicians' eight hour-long assault on chief Tony Hayward yesterday, in which they accused the oil man of ignoring the risks his company was taking drilling a mile down in the Gulf of Mexico. Hayward said he was "deeply sorry" for the spill, the worst environmental disaster in US history.But that didn't cool tempers on Capitol Hill. Democrat Bart Stupak barked: "We are not small people. We wish to get our lives back," referring to BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg's description of the spill victims and Hayward's wish for his "life back". "I'm sure you'll get your life back, and with a golden parachute to England," Stupak continued.Earlier Friday, BP had other problems with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev told the Wall Street Journal that the disaster was "a wake-up call".While stopping short of saying Russia would re-evaluate BP's partnership in Russia, he said the spill will prompt a fundamental rethinking of oil exploration around the world."Certainly, we are not indifferent to their future. ... Hopefully, they can absorb the losses."