European stocks remain lower despite U.S. agreement; Dax down 0.45%

European stocks remained lower on Thursday, as concerns over the effects of the U.S. government shutdown on the economy overshadowed news of a last minute debt deal to avert a sovereign default. 

During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 slid 0.31%, France’s CAC 40 shed 0.30%, while Germany’s DAX 30 shed 0.45%. 

Sentiment improved earlier, after the U.S. Congress passed a bill to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling, just hours ahead of a deadline to avert a debt sovereign debt default.

The deal will fund the government until January 15 and raise the government borrowing limit until February 7. Both sides also agreed to talks over broad budget issues in an attempt to reach a longer-term deal by December 13.

However, investors remained concerned over the impact of the government shutdown on the already fragile economic recovery. The possibility of another debt crisis also loomed, as the temporary solution does not resolve the underlying budgetary issues dividing Republicans and Democrats. 

Financial stocks remained broadly lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale slid 0.52% and 1.30%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank declined 0.83%. 

Among peripheral lenders, Spanish banks Banco Santander and BBVA retreated 0.34% and 0.73% respectively, while Italy's Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo fell 0.36% and 1.37%. 

Bloomberg reported earlier that BBVA was about to book a one-time loss of EUR2.3 billion against its earnings this year after writing down the value of its stake in China Citic Bank. 

Adding to losses, Outotec dove 15.31% after the Finnish supplier of smelters to mining companies cut its guidance for this year. 

In London, FTSE 100 slipped 0.10%, as U.K. lenders continued to track their European counterparts lower, while data showed that retail sales in the U.K. rose at a faster than expected rate in September. 

Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland dropped 0.69% and Lloyds Banking lost 1.17%, while HSBC Holdings and Barclays plummeted 1.23% and 1.98% respectively. 

Meanwhile, mining stocks were mixed, as Glencore Xstrata saw shares slide 0.58% and Vedanta Resources tumbled 2.23%, while gold miner Randgold Resources rose 0.27%, erasing earlier losses, and Polymetal surged 7.33%. 

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.24% fall, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.12% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.01% dip. 

Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish a report on initial jobless claims and the Philly Fed manufacturing index.