European Stocks Tumble As China Retaliates After Trump's Tariff Moves

(RTTNews) - European stocks plunged sharply and several market tumbled to fresh multi-month lows on Friday as U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff moves, and the retaliatory action by China raised fears of a global trade war and recession, prompting investors to press sales across the board.

Bank, mining, energy, realty, pharmaceuticals, retail and fashion jewellery - stocks from across all these sectors tumbled on sustained selling pressure.

Trump's moved prompted several European leaders to warn of retaliatory measures. French President Macro reportedly called on companies to suspend planned investments in the U.S.

Criticizing Trump's decision to impose 34% of additional reciprocal levies on China, which raises total U.S. tariffs against the country to 54%, as "inconsistent with international trade rules," China's finance ministry said today that it will impose a 34% tariff on all goods imported from the U.S. starting on April 10.

Disappointing Germany factory orders data and construction sector report, as well a drop in new car registrations also hurt sentiment.

The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 5.12%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX, both closed down 4.95%, and France's CAC 40 tumbled 4.26%. Switzerland's SMI ended 5.14% down.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden lost 3 to 7%.

Russia and Turkiye closed lower by about 2.5% and 1.1%, respectively.

In the UK market, Vistry Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Fresnillo, Antofagasta and Glencore fell 9 to 13%. Airtel Africa, Natwest, Anglo American Plc, Entain, Barclays, Endeavour Mining, BP, Weir Group, Experian and Pershing Square Holdings lost 7 to 9%.

Shell, Lloyds Banking Group, Segro, BAE Systems, M&G, Melrose Industries, DCC, Schroders, Rio Tinto, HSBC Holdings, AstraZeneca, Standard Chartered, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, IAG, GSK, British American Tobacco and B&M European Value Retail were among the several other major losers.

JD Sports Fashion bucked the trend and gained nearly 3%.

In the German market, Deutsche Bank tumbled nearly 10%. MTU Aero Engines, Deutsche Boerse, Infineon, Siemens Energy, Zalando, Deutsche Post, Allianz, Siemens, Heidelberg Materials, Sartorius, Bayer, Commerzbank, Mercedes-Benz and Hannover Rueck closed lower by 5 to 8%.

BMW, BASF, Siemens Healthineers, Fresenius, Fresenius Medical Care, Porsche, Merck and Daimler Truck Holding also ended sharply lower.

In Paris, Societe Generale tanked more than 10%. Unibail Rodamco, ArcelorMittal, Saint-Gobain, Airbus, BNP Paribas, Schneider Electric, Vivendi, Safran, TotalEnergies, Thales, STMicroElectronics, Capgemini, Credit Agricole, Stellantis, Publicis Groupe, Kering and Sanofi all ended with sharp losses.

On the economic front, survey results from S&P Global said the UK construction sector logged a sustained downturn in March amid rising cost pressures. The construction Purchasing Managers' Index climbed to 46.4 in March from 44.6 in February.

Among the main categories, civil engineering activity deteriorated at the steepest pace since October 2020, linked to delayed decision-making on new projects and a generally subdued pipeline of major infrastructure work. The decline in commercial building was the fastest since January 2021, while residential construction activity fell at a slower pace than in February.

Data from Destatis said Germany factory orders stagnated unexpectedly in February even though US importers brought forward imports to beat the impending tariffs.

New orders in the manufacturing sector remained unchanged in February, reversing a 5.5% drop in January, the data said. Orders were forecast to grow 3.4%. Excluding large orders, new orders were 0.2% lower than in the previous month.

Germany's construction sector deteriorated at a faster pace at the end of the first quarter amid weaker order inflows, survey results from S&P Global showed. The HCOB construction Purchasing Managers' Index registered 40.3 in March, down from 41.2 in February.

New car registrations in Germany fell 3.9% year-on-year to 253,497 units in March, marking the fifth consecutive period of decline.

Data from statistical office INSEE showed France's industrial production recovered at a stronger-than-expected pace in February, growing by 0.7% month-on-month, in contrast to the 0.5% decrease in January. Economists had forecast output to grow 0.5%.

Likewise, manufacturing output advanced 1.4% after a 0.5% drop in the previous month. The upturn in output was mainly driven by the 1.2% rebound in 'other manufacturing industries' and the 3.1% increase in the manufacture of machinery and equipment goods.

Data from S&P Global said the HCOB Construction PMI in France rose to 43.8 in March 2025 from a five-month low of 38.9 in the previous month, pointing to a slower rate of contraction across the country's construction sector but still sharp overall.

Meanwhile, data showed new passenger car registrations in France fell 14.5% year-on-year to 153,842 units in March 2025, marking the third consecutive monthly decline.