European Shares Slip On Growth, US Debt Ceiling Worries

(RTTNews) - European stocks were broadly lower on Thursday amid doubts about China's economic recovery and lingering uncertainty surrounding the possibility of a U.S. debt default.

Fitch Ratings along with Moody's and S&P placed the United States "AAA" credit on "rating watch negative," signaling downside risks to U.S. creditworthiness.

Traders remained wary of a possible and catastrophic default with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen maintaining early June as a debt ceiling default deadline.

Growth concerns also resurfaced after official data showed German economy entered a technical recession in the first quarter of this year.

GDP declined a seasonally and calendar adjusted 0.3 percent from the fourth quarter of last year as household consumption slumped amid the rising cost of living that is fueled by high inflation, revised data from the statistical office Destatis showed.

"After growth entered negative territory at the end of 2022, the German economy has now recorded two consecutive negative quarters," Destatis President Ruth Brand said.

Two consecutive quarters of output contraction is defined as a technical recession. The pan-European STOXX 600 edged up 0.1 percent to 458.26 after tumbling 1.8 percent on Wednesday.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and the German DAX were down around 0.2 percent, while France's CAC 40 was marginally lower.

Renewi, a waste-to-product services provider, lost 4 percent in London after reporting lower earnings for the year 2023 due to cost inflation and volatility in recyclate prices.

Pets At Home declined 2.2 percent after its pre-tax profit fell in fiscal 2023. Infrastructure firm Hill & Smith rallied 3.5 percent after it delivered a record trading performance in the four months to April 30.

Chemicals group Johnson Matthey fell 2.8 percent after reporting a fall in annual profit.

Deutsche Boerse shares fell about 1 percent. The German company published the offer document pursuant to which the company makes an all-cash voluntary recommended public takeover offer to acquire all shares, excluding treasury shares, in SimCorp A/S at a price of 735.0 Danish kroner per share.