Europe open: Shares tank again on Trump's trade war 'medicine'
By Frank Prenesti
Date: Monday 07 Apr 2025
(Sharecast News) - European shares slumped for a third straight session on Monday, sending the benchmark Stoxx 600 index to its lowest level in a year as the trade war fears stoked by US President Donald Trump's tariff measures turned trading screens red around the world.
The pan-regional index was down more than 6% at the open, with Germany's DAX 8.5% lower, Britain's FTSE 100 off by 5%, France's CAC-40 6% and Italy's MIB 5.7%. The Eurostoxx 50 index of Europe's 50 largest companies was down 6.2%.
Sentiment was worsened by more bellicose remarks from Trump over the weekend when he said countries would have to pay "a lot of money" to lift swingeing tariffs adding that "you have to take medicine to fix something".
Asian equities suffered a similar bloodbath overnight after China on Friday hit back with big tariffs of its own against US imports, raising the stakes in a trade war that investors fear could trigger a global recession. Shares in Hong Kong were down 12% to their lowest level in more than 16 years, while Tokyo plunged more than 7%.
"China is clearly in the mood for the fight, and with the world's two largest economies at loggerheads, the result has been ugly for investors," said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor.
"Retaliatory tariffs announced on Friday by China sent markets into another tailspin, while comments from President Trump over the weekend will do little to assuage the situation, with US futures already pointing to another difficult trading session to come."
Oil prices fell further on worries of a global slowdown, with Brent crude down 3.77% to $63.11 a barrel.
There were no winners on the equities front. German arms maker Rheinmetall tanked by a third, while compatriot banks Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank were down by double digits after taking a battering on Friday.
Swiss pharma group Sandoz plummeted 20%, aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce fell 13% and global miner and commodities trader Glencore was 13.5% lower.
Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com
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