UPDATE 2-Top US credit rating stable for near term-S&P

(Recasts, adds details)

By Caryn Trokie

NEW YORK, June 17 (Reuters) - The United States' top AAA credit rating is unlikely to come under pressure in the near term as the country continues to benefit from a highly diversified economy and the dollar remains the world's most used currency, Standard & Poor's said on Wednesday.

S&P warned last month that Britain's AAA credit grade was at risk of downgrade, prompting some concerns that a similar action may be due for the United States.

Bill Gross, co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co, said after the British rating warning that the United States will eventually lose its AAA rating.

Technical analyst Robert Prechter, known for predicting the 1987 stock market crash, said this week that the United States is at risk of being downgraded by the end of 2010 as the government issues new debt in an effort to support the economy. For details, see [ID:nN15190491]

However, "despite significant weakening in the near-term economic outlook, projected fiscal deficits, and the high fiscal costs of government support of the U.S. financial sector, we still believe that the U.S. government's credit strengths continue to outweigh its weaknesses," Nikola Swann, analyst at S&P, said in a statement.

The U.S. dollar's reserve status and the economy's openness to trade supports the AAA rating, which has traditionally given U.S. Treasury bonds the status of a safe-haven investment, S&P said.

The country also benefits from a stable political system with long-standing institutions, making it able to respond to economic and financial change, the rating agency said.

Fears about rising government bond issuance have driven Treasury yields sharply higher since March, pushing them to an eight-month high of 4 percent last week. (Additional reporting by Pedro da Costa and Karen Brettell; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)