Rating agency Moody's on Thursday lowered its ratings on four of Spain's autonomous communities, warning they were likely to miss their deficit reduction targets.

The agency lowered the rating of Catalonia from Baa3 to Ba1, while that of Murcia was lowered from Baa2 to Ba1. Extremadura saw its rating fall from A3 to Baa1, and Andalusia from A3 to Baa2.

Moody's ratings of Comunidad Valencia and Castilla-la Mancha were kept unchanged at Ba3.

The downgrades came on the same day as Spain, facing mounting pressure in the bond market, sold its four-year bonds at an interest rate of over hovering five percent.

The Spanish government approved on Thursday the adjustment plans of the 17 autonomous communities, with the exception of Asturias, where the newly formed government have two weeks to present their plans to the Treasury.

Another rating agency, Standard and Poor's has announced earlier in May that it was downgrading its ratings on 9 of Spain's 17 communities.