The decrease observed in the indices of stock markets in Europe against the background of the U.S., where the issue remains unresolved threat "fiscal cliff."

The leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate, Harry Reid, said that the prospect of an agreement between Democrats and Republicans is becoming dimmer.

This means that from 1 January in the U.S. at the same time may increase taxes for all Americans and reduce the social costs.

Speaking in the Senate, Harry Reid said that the time to reach an agreement by Monday, Dec. 31, remains. Senators and President Obama returned to Washington, while members of the House of Representatives continue to recess.

Experts say that if the "fiscal cliff" happens, the U.S. economy faces a recession.

It also remains unclear fate Kipra.Na last week the international rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the sovereign rating of Cyprus from "B" to "CCC +" and short-term rating - with a "B" to "C" the European Union is a difficult situation: save or not to save Cyprus from financial ruin. This is stated in an article published in the newspaper Corriere della Sera. Germany initially claimed that the aid will go to Cyprus by the end of the year. But now the silence around Cyprus. And not because they forgot about it. Unexpected delay in care due to the fact that the report of the German military intelligence BND said that the island packed with Russian oligarchs and their money of dubious origin ", - stated in the article.

FTSE 100 5,951.31 -2.99 -0.05%

DAX 7,633.47 -22.41 -0.29%

CAC 3,646.42 -23.88 -0.77%

Spanish paper Bankia fallen by 25% - to the lowest since the IPO in July 2011, 41.3 cents on news that the troubled bank stocks will be excluded from the index IBEX 35 as of 2 January.

Atari capitalization decreased by 4.2% after a video game developer said that he could get a "significant" loss for the current financial year.