According to the latest calendars for rating reviews in 2018, of the four main aencies, Standard and Poor’s (S&P) will be the first to update its rating for Portugal, on 16 March, followed by Moody’s and DBRS (both on 20 April) and finally Fitch (on 1 June).
Of the four agencies, only Moody’s still has Portugal’s sovereign debt down as speculative, at ‘Ba1’ (its highest ‘junk’ rating), with a positive outlook. That means that, at the next review, it should upgrade the rating.
The rating agencies have to release the calendar for the coming year under a 213 directive from the European Commission, which also requires the update to be published on a Friday after the close of stock markets, to reduce market volatility. However, the agencies may release reviews on other dates so long as they explain the change and it does not become a frequent occurrence.