European stock markets traded sharply lower Monday, with investors fretting ahead of imposition of U.S. trade tariffs later this week, potentially leading to a slowdown in global economic activity.
At 02:02 ET (07:02 GMT), the DAX index in Germany dropped 0.8%, the CAC 40 in France slipped 0.8% and the FTSE 100 in the UK fell 0.7%.
European stocks are following their Asian counterparts lower, with the Nikkei index in Japan almost 4%, the largest daily drop in six months, as investors await a raft of tariffs from the Trump administration set to take effect on Wednesday, including a 25% levy on all auto imports.
April 2 is also the date U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to announce his plan for reciprocal tariffs, which he has threatened to levy against countries running persistent trade imbalances with the United States.
Concerns over Trump’s tariffs rose sharply after a Wall Street Journal report said he was considering bigger and broader tariffs against major U.S. trading partners – including the possibility of an across-the-board hike of 20%.
This is higher than the 15% Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) now expects reciprocal tariffs to average across all U.S. trading partners, with the influential investment bank lifting the chance of a U.S. recession to 35%, from 20%, in a note.
There was some positive economic news Monday, after data released earlier in the session Friday showed that German retail sales rose 0.8% on the month in February, considerably more than the flat number expected.
There are also German state inflation figures due for release later in the session, which are expected to confirm that inflation remains relatively benign in the eurozone’s largest economy.
There was also stronger-than-expected Chinese purchasing managers index data for March, which showed strength in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing activity, to digest.
The reading indicated that Beijing’s recent stimulus measures were bearing fruit, in the wake of the country’s aggressive round of stimulus measures through late-2024.
In the corporate sector, Associated British Foods (OTC:ASBFY) was in the spotlight after the retailer said the boss of its Primark clothing business, Paul Marchant, has resigned with immediate effect.
The company said Marchant cooperated with an investigation it initiated after an allegation made about his behaviour, and acknowledged his “error of judgement.”
Elsewhere, Aston Martin (LON:AML) said Chairman Lawrence Stroll’s Yew Tree Consortium would invest a further £52.5 million in the luxury carmaker and increase its stake to about 33%.
The fresh funding comes a month after the carmaker said it would cut 5% of its workforce as its losses and debt ballooned, and just four months after it last raised capital.
Oil prices slipped lower Monday, heading for a quarterly loss on concerns that economic activity will suffer under the new global trade regime.
At 02:02 ET, Brent crude futures fell 0.1% to $72.73 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 0.1% to $69.31 a barrel.
Both benchmarks were on track to post their first quarterly drop in two quarters, even after three straight weeks of gains.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, is set to begin its program of monthly increases in oil production in April.
