European Stocks Close Weak As Tariff War Hurts Sentiment

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed broadly lower on Thursday amid rising concerns about global economic growth following U.S. President's tariffs on steel and aluminum, the retaliatory measures from Canada and the European Union, and subsequent threat by Trump that reciprocal tariffs on U.S.' trade partners will take effect next month.

Today, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 200% tariff on wines, champagnes and alcoholic products imported into the U.S. from France and other countries in the European Union.

Trump's threat follows the imposition of 50% tariff on American whiskey by the European Union, as a counter measure to previous levies announced by the U.S.

Uncertainty over a potential ceasefire in Ukraine weighed as well on sentiment.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 0.18%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down 0.05%, Germany's DAX closed down 0.63% and France's CAC 40 settled lower by 0.57%, while Switzerland's SMI lost 0.25%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia and Sweden ended lower.

Greece, Norway, Poland and Turkiye closed higher, while Spain ended flat.

In the UK market, Melrose Industries, Hiscox, Diploma, Croda International, Entain, Natwest Group, Beazley, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Bunzl, Coca-Cola, Intermediate Capital Group, Barratt Redrow and Persimmon closed lower by 2.3 to 4%.

Intertek Group, JD Sports Fashion, Scottish Mortgage, 3i Group, St. James's Place and Polar Capiral Technology Trust also declined sharply.

Shares of delivery service provider Deliveroo plc closed down 4.2% after the company signaled a more extended timeline for achieving its key profitability targets.

The company reporting a profit of 2.9 million pounds for fiscal 2024, compared to prior year's loss of 31.8 million pounds. Adjusted EBITDA, a key earnings metric, climbed 52% to 129.6 million pounds from 85.4 million pounds a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA margin increased to 1.7% from last year's 1.2%.

Vodafone Group rallied 4.6%. Antofagasta ended higher by 2.81%, while BT Group, Airtel Africa, Rentokil Initial, AstraZeneca, Imperial Brands, Endeavour Mining, Reckit Benckiser, Shell and Aviva gained 1 to 2.5%.

Halma climbed about 1.25% after the company announced that it expects an Adjusted EBIT margin modestly above 21% for the full year ending in March.

Halma's guidance for good organic constant currency revenue growth for fiscal 2025 remains unchanged from when announced with its half-yearly results in November 2024.

In the German market, Daimler Truck Holding and Freseneius Medical Care, both closed lower by more than 4%.

Brenntag, Puma, Infineon, SAP, MTU Aero Engines, BMW, SIemens Healthineers, Volkswagen, Porsche, Continental, Beiersdorf and Mercedes-Benz ended down 1.3 to 3.3%.

RWE climbed nearly 3%. Rheinmetall, Heidelberg Materials, E.ON, Deutsche Telekom, BASF, Commerzbank and Hannover Rueck ended with sharp to moderate gains.

In the French market, Pernod Ricard ended more than 4% down. STMicroElectronics, Essilor, Publicis Groupe, Stellantis and Safran lost 2 to 3%.

Capgemini, Legrand, Saint-Gobain, Schneider Electric, Hermes International, Thales and Michelin lost 1 to 1.7%.

Teleperformance rallied more than 2.5%. Vivendi gained about 1.8%, and L'Oreal climbed 1.4%. TotalEnergies, ArcelorMittal, Orange, Engie snd Edenred also closed notably higher.

Data from Eurostat showed Euro area industrial production recovered at a stronger-than-expected pace in January due to the rebound in intermediate and capital goods output, official data revealed.

Industrial output grew 0.8% on a monthly basis in January, reversing a 0.4% fall in December, Eurostat reported. Output was expected to climb 0.5%.