European Shares Extend Losses Due To Tariff Worries

(RTTNews) - European stocks slumped to a 16-month low on Monday after reports suggested the European Union is gearing up to impose retaliatory tariffs on the United States.

It is feared that U.S. President Trump's proposed massive tariffs and retaliatory actions against the U.S. tariffs could potentially lead to a global economic recession in 2025.

The pan European STOXX 600 was down 5.2 percent at 470.52 after plunging 5.1 percent on Friday to confirm correction territory.

The German DAX tumbled 5.7 percent, France's CAC 40 lost 5.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 5.1 percent.

Banks Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Societe Generale tumbled 6-9 percent on fears of a possible global recession.

Defense-related stocks were also coming under selling pressure after recent strong gains.

Renk Group AG and Rheinmetall AG both fell around 10 percent, while Hensoldt was down nearly 12 percent.

Energy majors BP Plc and Shell both plunged around 7 percent as crude prices hit four-year lows on demand concerns.

Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore fell 5-6 percent.

In economic releases, German industrial output fell 1.3 percent on a monthly basis in February, in contrast to the 2.0 percent increase in January, Destatis reported today. Output was expected to drop 0.9 percent.

On a yearly basis, industrial production decreased 4.0 percent, following January's 1.6 percent fall.

Separate set of data revealed that German exports grew 1.8 percent month-on-month in February, following nil growth in January. This was the fastest growth since November.

At the same time, imports advanced 0.7 percent on a monthly basis, slower than the 5.0 percent increase in January.

Elsewhere, U.K. house prices slid unexpectedly by 0.5 percent month-on-month in March, bigger than February's 0.2 percent drop amid weaker economic outlook, according to mortgage lender Halifax.

This was the second consecutive decline while analysts had forecast prices to climb 0.2 percent.

Eurozone Sentix investor confidence data for April and Eurozone retail sales data for February are slated for release later in the day.