“European Stocks Rise as US Debt Ceiling Talks Stall”

European stocks were mostly higher on Friday, while U.S. stocks fell after Republicans announced a pause in talks to raise the national debt ceiling.

US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, announced a deadlock in talks on raising the national debt ceiling on Friday, while a White House official acknowledged that there are deep differences between Democrats and Republicans, making talks difficult.

“We need a change of position from the White House, but there isn’t one yet. That’s why we need a pause,” McCarthy told reporters.

He suggested that Democrats should agree to cut spending.

US Finance Minister Janet Yellen warned at the beginning of May that the US could run out of financial resources as early as June 1 and the country could experience debt default if Congress does not increase or temporarily lift the debt ceiling. The United States debt ceiling is currently $31.4 trillion.

Patrick O’Hare, an analyst at Briefing.com, said the fall in share prices was not large, indicating that markets are confident that “something will be done to avoid a default.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% to 33,426.63 on Friday, the Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.1% to 4,191.98, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.2% to 12,657.90 points.

London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2% to 7,756.87 on Friday, Frankfurt’s DAX rose 0.7% to 16,275.38 and Paris’ CAC 40 rose 0.6% to 7,491. 96 points.

In electronic trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the price of WTI crude oil fell 0.4% to $71.55 a barrel on Friday. “Brent” crude oil price on the London exchange fell by 0.4% to 75.58 dollars per barrel.

On the Dutch exchange “Title Transfer Facility” (TTF) natural gas price increased by 1.3% to 30.18 euros per megawatt hour on Friday.

The euro rose against the US dollar on Friday from $1.0770 to $1.0810 per euro, the British pound against the US dollar rose from $1.2409 to $1.2448 per pound and the US dollar rose against the Japanese yen from 138.71 to 137.94 yen per dollar. The euro rose against the British pound from 86.80 to 86.82 pence per euro.