Several European banking stocks halted from trade after steep losses: Live updates

European markets were sharply lower Wednesday, with banking stocks in deep negative territory amid the global Silicon Valley Bank fallout and more bad news for Credit Suisse.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 2.56%, with all sectors and major bourses trading in the red.

Banking stocks continued their losing streak and were down 6.6%, followed by retail, which was down 5.2%.

Credit Suisse dropped to the bottom of the blue-chip index, down 25% at 12:05 p.m. London time, after the bank’s biggest lender, Saudi National Bank, said it would not be able to offer it more financial help.

The Credit Suisse fall caused a wider banking sell-off to resume after the sector staged a modest recovery Tuesday. BNP Paribas was down 11.5%, Societe Generale was down 11.1%, Commerzbank was down 9.5% and Deutsche Bank was down 8.1%.

Several bank stocks, including Credit Suisse, were temporarily halted from trade during the morning due to the steep losses. Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale and UBS declined to comment.

That comes despite buoyant trade in Asia-Pacific markets overnight and on Wall Street Tuesday, where U.S. bank stocks rebounded on optimism that the contagion risk from Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse was contained. U.S. stock futures were lower early Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the U.K. is gearing up for Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt’s “Spring Budget” Wednesday in which he’s expected to announce key pension and child-care reforms as the country continues to battle a cost of living crisis.