Published by Mark Smith-HalvorsenThe euro was broadly lower in early global forex trading this morning (July 19th) after Moody's decision to downgrade Ireland's debt rating from Aa1 to Aa2, with a stable outlook.Dietmar Hornung, Moody's senior credit officer and lead analyst for Ireland, said in a statement: "Today's downgrade is primarily driven by the Irish government's gradual but significant loss of financial strength, as reflected by its deteriorating debt affordability."Ireland was one of the hardest hit nations during the European debt crisis, alongside Greece, Portugal and Spain, all of which have suffered credit downgrades. Greece's debt rating is currently at junk status.Moody's announced that Ireland would suffer growth below historical averages over the next three years as the financial services and real estate sectors continue to underperform.The continuing concern about the stability of the European banking industry among forex brokers led to broad falls against 11 of the euro's 16 most actively traded counterparts, Bloomberg data showed.For more information on foreign exchange treasury services and risk management, visit our Corporate FX site.