Europe open: Stoxx up after volatile week amid 'fragile' tariff pause
By Frank Prenesti
Date: Friday 11 Apr 2025
(Sharecast News) - European shares opened higher at the end of a turbulent week driven by US President Donald Trump's erratic tariff policies, shrugging off falls on Wall Street and Asia overnight.
The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.39%. Germany's DAX rose 0.61% and France's CAC-40 0.86%.
Markets rebounded after Trump paused swingeing tariffs for 90 days, but increased levies on China to 145% as he focused his ire on the world's second-largest economy.
The European Union, which had been planning retaliatory measures of its own, on Thursday pausing countermeasures for 90 days. "We want to give negotiations a chance," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
However, France President Emmanuel Macron on Friday warned that the temporary tariff suspension "sends out a signal and leaves the door open for talks. But this pause is a fragile one."
"This 90-day pause means 90 days of uncertainty for all our businesses, on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond."
In economic news, the UK economy grew faster than expected in February, as the services and manufacturing sectors picked up after recent slow activity, official figures show.
The Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product grew by 0.5%, compared with forecasts of just 0.1% growth.
In equity news, shares in Swedish industrial technology group Hexagon slumped after the company reported lower operating profit in the first quarter, hit by weaker than expected growth in its key North American Free Trade Agreement and China markets last month.
Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com
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