Commodities face France downgrade heat

Brent crude, copper and gold slipped intraday as the move took the steam out of investor optimism, built up since Friday on a possible solution to the US fiscal cliff and China's expected aggressive pursuit of growth following a smooth leadership transition.

Moody's cut the French government bond rating by one notch from the highest level to "Aa1" and warned another downgrade of the euro zone's second-biggest economy was possible.

No significant announcement from China to drive growth since the change of guard earlier this month just added to uncertainties about the course of the global economy.

"This is exactly the kind of thing we can expect to see over the coming quarters — a few headlines of good news that are then reversed by ongoing problems, particularly in Europe and the US," Reuters quoted Barclays analyst Gayle Berry as saying. "I think that until those (growth concerns) are tackled at the core, prices are always going to be vulnerable to the ebb and flow of headlines," she added.

Brent crude oil dropped 39 cents to $111.31 per barrel intraday as worries about supply disruption in West Asia following the Israel-Palestine conflict were outweighed by fresh concerns about the French economy. US crude, too, tumbled by 42 cents to $88.86 a barrel. Traders are eyeing fresh U.S. oil inventory data, to

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