European stocks closed lower on fears of the US debt crisis

The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed down 0.2%, with food and drink, utilities and real estate stocks the hardest hit.

Caution prevails in global markets as US President Joe Biden is expected to continue talks with Congress leaders later this week on raising the public debt ceiling while House Speaker Kevin McCarthy committed to avoiding default.

“We’re still well ahead of the deadline and hopefully some sort of deal can be done over the weekend,” said Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG Group.

“It will affect US markets first, then European markets will follow and that’s what we expect for the second half of May. It’s not a good month for equities at all,” he said. added.

Germany’s Commerzbank fell 3.8% on Wednesday after its full-year net interest income estimate missed analysts’ expectations.

UBS Group shares rose 1.1% after the Swiss bank said it expected $17 billion in financial damage from its takeover of Credit Suisse, but also expected a gain exceptional of 34.8 billion dollars.

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