Monday's opening of European stock markets is anticipated to be cautious as talks over a potential increase in the U.S. debt ceiling go on.

Monday's opening of European stock markets is anticipated to be cautious as talks over a potential increase in the U.S. debt ceiling go on.

Today's macroeconomic calendar for Europe is rather light, with speeches by Luis de Guindos and Philip Lane of the ECB and stats on consumer confidence for the eurozone's May quarter as the key highlights.

In light of this, activity is probably going to be somewhat muted as investors wait for further information from Washington and talks to prevent a U.S. default, which would have catastrophic effects on the world economy, are expected to continue.

In an effort to restart negotiations after Republican negotiators abruptly left Friday's debt ceiling talks, President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with House Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy later on Monday.

Over the weekend, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated that June 1 is still a "hard deadline" for lifting the federal debt ceiling and that difficult decisions would need to be taken if Congress failed to do so. The debt ceiling is now $31.4 trillion.

Over the weekend, the G7 conference in Japan provided some encouraging news when Vice President Biden predicted that ties between the United States and China will improve "very shortly."

This may result in a resurgence of international investment in China, assisting a significant export market as it battles with a post-COVID economic recovery.

In company-related news, Ryanair reported a nearly record profit for the fiscal year that ended in March. The Irish airline, which is the largest in Europe by passenger volume, said it was reasonably confident that earnings will increase somewhat in the upcoming 12 months, with summer demand being particularly strong.

Due to concern over the ongoing U.S. debt limit negotiations, oil prices declined on Monday, giving up some of the gains made the previous week.

(investing.com, reuters.com)