NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — MF Global Ltd., the derivatives broker whose stock has dropped 93 percent this year, had its counterparty credit rating outlook revised to negative from stable by Standard & Poor's on expectations that futures trading will slow.

Hamilton, Bermuda-based MF Global's profit and revenue in the next two quarters probably will be lower than forecast, S&P said. The broker has enough capital under a $1.5 billion revolving loan, S&P said in a statement. The outlook change means the counter-party credit rating could be downgraded if trading volumes, interest revenue or cash on hand "deteriorate materially", S&P said.

Shares of futures exchanges and brokers such as MF Global have tumbled amid wider market losses and as tight credit cut the amount of borrowed money traders can use. MF Global also suffered a $141 million loss from an unauthorised employee trade in February and shook investor confidence in how it would pay off debt due this year. The company named Bernard Dan as chief executive officer after Kevin Davis resigned in October.

CME Group Inc., the world's largest futures market, has seen its volume drop in three of the last five months as its share price plummeted 73 percent this year. That compares with a 72 percent drop in the FTSE/Mondo Visone Exchanges Index, a measure of 17 publicly traded exchanges, and a 41 percent drop in the S&P 500 index.

"We think the company has made significant progress in implementing its capital plan, but it will need to secure more permanent long-term financing," S&P said in the statement. S&P kept its BBB long-term credit rating on MF Global.

MF Global fell 22 cents, or 9.2 percent, to $2.18 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They reached a high of this year of $30.79 on January 2.