European markets close lower amid tariff threat
European markets closed lower Wednesday as investors continued to assess the potential impact of President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to hike tariffs and fresh U.S. inflation data.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index provisionally closed down 0.2%, with all sectors in negative territory apart from telecoms, food and beverage, utilities and financial services.
Shares of Easyjet were up 1.5% at the open but later pared gains after the budget airline posted a 25% rise in full-year operating profit. The stock closed the day down 0.4%.
Shares of Just Eat Takeaway were 2.4% lower after the company announced it would delist from the London Stock Exchange next month
Meanwhile, shares of Aston Martin fell 5.5% after the luxury carmaker issued another profit warning.
Global markets have traded mixed since Trump said Monday that one of his first acts in office would be to impose an additional 10% tariff on all Chinese goods entering the U.S., and threatened a 25% tariff on products from Mexico and Canada, ending a regional free trade agreement.
Economists have warned of the potential inflationary impact of Trump’s fiscal plan, which could see the U.S. Federal Reserve cutting interest rates at a slower pace.
Source: CNBC
