European Stocks Close Notably Lower On Growth Concerns

European stocks closed with sharp losses on Tuesday amid concerns about global economic growth as fresh U.S. tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China took effect today, and China and Canada announced retaliatory measures.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat that he will impose reciprocal tariffs from early April, hurt as well.

In retaliation, Canada announced 25% tariffs on $107 billion worth of U.S. goods, with $20.7 billion in immediate effect. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country is preparing countermeasures.

China has announced 15% tariffs on U.S. chicken, wheat, corn and cotton, plus 10% cent tariffs on soybeans, pork, beef and dairy beginning March 10.

U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated that he will impose reciprocal duties with effect from April 2, and the first target will be a levy on agricultural products.

Defense stocks found some support as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled a rearmament plan capable of mobilizing about 800 million euros for Europe. Energy, mining and automobile stocks closed sharply lower.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended down 1.65%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 closed 0.76% down, Germany’s DAX tumbled 2.61% and France’s CAC 40 fell 1.7%. Switzerland’s SMI settled 1.21% down.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden ended sharply lower.

Greece and Turkiye closed slightly weak, while Russia bucked the trend and ended sharply higher.

In the UK market, Intertek Group climbed about 4.5% after the company reported a jump in pre-tax profit for fiscal 2024. In the fiscal year ending December 31, pre-tax income was GBP 490 million, up from GBP 422.3 million last year, the company said. Net Income also came higher at GBP 367.2 million compared with GBP 318.1 million prior year, and earnings per share were 212.7 pence versus 183.4 pence in the previous year.

Fresnillo rallied 3.45%. Severn Trent, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Coca-Cola HBC, Pearson, GSK, Unilever, British American Tobacco, National Grid, AstraZeneca, United Utilities, Rolls-Royce Holdings and Haleon gained 1 to 3.2%.

Ashtead Group ended down 8.2%. IAG closed 7.5% down. Scottish Mortgage, Barclays Group, Intermediate Capital Group, BP, Whitbread, IMI, St. James’s Place and Easyjet lost 5 to 6.2%.

Weir Group, Pershing Square Holdings, Convatec Group, Antofagasta, Alliance Witan, 3i Group, DCC, Natwest Group, Shell, Prudential, Glencore, WPP, HSBC Holdings, BAE Systems, Anglo American Plc, Associated British Foods and Endeavour Mining lost 2.5 to 5%.

In the German market, Continental tanked nearly 12%. The company announced that it expects limited improvement to profitability this year.

Fresenius Medical Care plunged about 9%, Daimler Truck Holding closed down 8%, Siemens Energy shed about 76% and Deutsche Bank ended down 7.5%.

BMW, Zalando, Porsche, Puma, Siemens, Sartorius, Mercedes-Benz, Infineon, HeidelbergCement, SAP, Volkswagen and Adidas lost 4 to 6.2%.

BASF, Siemens Healthineers, Deutsche Post, Commerzbank, Rheinmetall, Merck, MTU Aero Engines and Munich RE also declined sharply.

E.ON, Beiersdorf, Vonovia and Henkel gained 0.6 to 1%.

In the French market, Stellantis plummeted more than 10%. STMicroElectronics dropped 8.8%, while Schneider Electric, Publicis Groupe, Kering, ArcelorMittal and Renault ended down 5 to 5.5%.

Accor, LVMH, Legrand, Saint Gobain, Airbus Group, BNP Paribas, Capgemini, Societe Generale, Michelin, Vivendi, Teleperformance, TotalEnergies, Hermes International, Credit Agricole and Dassault Systemes lost 2 to 4%.

Danone climbed about 4.7%. Sanofi gained nearly 1.5%. Edenred, Orange, Unibail Rodamco, Eurofins Scientific, Bouygues and Accor gained 0.7 to 1%.

Thales ended nearly 1.5% up, after reporting adjusted net income of 1.90 billion euros for fiscal 2024, compared to 1.77 billion euros a year ago. Further, the company proposed a dividend, and issued fiscal 2025 outlook, expecting growth in margin and sales.

Looking ahead, for fiscal 2025, the company projects organic sales growth of between 5% and 6%, corresponding to sales between 21.7 billion euros and 21.9 billion euros. Adjusted EBIT margin is expected between 12.2% and 12.4%.

On the economic front, data from Eurostat said the unemployment rate in the euro area remained flat at 6.2% in January.