European Stocks Close Sharply Lower As Trump's Tariff Move Hurts Sentiment

(RTTNews) - European stocks tumbled on Friday, recording one of their worst sessions in several months, as sweeping fresh tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump raised fears of a global economic slowdown, prompting investors to press selling across the board.

Trump announced sharply higher tariffs, ranging from 10 to 41% on dozens of countries, including Canada and Switzerland, and also confirmed a 15% tariff on EU imports.

India, Brazil and Canada faced steep tariffs as President Donald Trump pushes to rebalance deficits and protect American manufacturing, citing national security.

Pharma stocks were under pressure after Trump asked 17 major global pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices in the U.S.

Investors also reacted to corporate earnings announcements.

The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 1.89%. Germany's DAX and France'c CAC 40 lost 2.66% and 2.91%, respectively. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended 0.7% down, while Switzerland's SMI closed lower by 0.8%.

Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden ended notably lower.

Russia edged down marginally, while Austria and Turkiye closed slightly up.

In the UK market, Intertek Group tumbled 6.7% with forex headwinds overshadowing the company's solid first-half performance. The company reported a 16.5% jump in EBITA at £276 million.

Weir Group closed lower by about 6.1%. Rentokil Initial, Babcock International, Barclays, Anglo American Plc, Natwest Group, Prudential, Schroders, ICG, Lloyds Banking Group and Segro lost 2 to 5%.

Pearson climbed more than 6%. The education company's first-half underlying sales and adjusted operating profit topped forecasts.

Melrose Industries gained 5% after reporting operating profit of 310 million pounds for the six months ended June 30, 2025, up 18% compared with 247 million pounds in the year-ago period.

Unilever gained about 2.75%. British American Tobacco, Fresnillo, National Grid, Endeavour Mining, Haleon, United Utilities, Mondi and Vodafone Group gained 1 to 2.3%.

In the German market, Daimler Truck Holding tanked nearly 9% after the owner of U.S. truck brand Freightliner trimmed its 2025 forecast, citing persisting market weakness in North America.

Siemens, Heidelberg Materials, Porsche, Siemens Energy, Allianz, BASF, Volkswagen, Deutsche Post and Deutsche Bank closed down by 3 to 5.3%.

SAP closed nearly 2.5% down, after signing a deal to buy SmartRecruiters, a talent acquisition software provider.

Sartorius, Zalando, Merck, Fresenius Medical Care, MTU Aero Engines, Continental, Infineon, Fresenius, BMW and Munich RE also ended sharply lower.

Bayer climbed nearly 3% after raising its 2025 sales forecast.

In the French market, Teleperformance tanked nearly 21% after the company lowered its 2025 like-for-like revenue growth guidance to the lower end of its prior 2% to 4% range and maintained its recurring EBITA margin forecast of 15.0% to 15.1% at constant exchange rates.

Saint Gobain lost more than 9% despite reporting a 3.4% year-over-year increase in first-half sales at constant currencies. AXA ended lower by nearly 8% after first-half profit came in below estimates.

Schneider Elcectric, Accor, Vivendi, Capgemini, BNP Paribas, Edenred, Airbus, Societe Generale, STMicroElectronics, L'Oreal, Hermes International, Dassault Systemes and Safran ended down by 3 to 6.3%.

Orange gained more than 3.5%. Sanofi climbed nearly 2%. Danone advanced by about 0.85%.

In economic releases, data from S&P Global showed the HCOB Germany Manufacturing PMI was revised slightly lower to 49.1 in July 2025 from a preliminary reading of 49.2 and compared to 49 in June, continuing to point to a deterioration in manufacturing business conditions.

Flash data from Eurostat showed Eurozone inflation remained at the European Central Bank's 2% target last month, bucking expectations of a slight fall.

Eurozone manufacturing moved closer to stabilization in the month, with the HCOB Eurozone Manufacturing PMI coming in at 49.8, up from 49.5 in June.

Data from S&P Global showed the HCOB France Manufacturing PMI came in at 48.2 in July 2025, slightly lower than initial estimates of 48.4 and broadly unchanged from June's reading of 48.1.

Data from Eurostat showed Eurozone inflation remained stable at the European Central Bank's 2% target in July. The harmonized index of consumer prices increased 2% year-on-year in July, the same rate of increase as seen in June. Inflation was forecast to ease to 1.9%.

Core inflation that excludes prices of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco also remained stable in July, at 2.3%.

A report from Nationwide Building Society said UK house prices increased 2.4% on a yearly basis in July, following June's 2.1% increase. Prices were expected to climb at a steady pace of 2.1% in July.

On a monthly basis, house prices grew 0.6%, in contrast to the 0.9% decrease in June.

Data from S&P Global showed the S&P Global UK Manufacturing PMI rose to 48 in July from 47.7 in June, revised lower from the flash estimate of 48.2. While the sector remained in contraction, the latest reading signaled the mildest decline in business conditions since January amid the softest contraction in output in nine months.