European stocks sank for a fourth straight session on Monday, amid a global equity market rout that kicked off last week following the latest announcements of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs regime.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell up to 6% earlier in the session but slightly pared losses to close 4.54% lower. France’s CAC 40 tumbled 4.8% as Germany’s DAX shed 4.26%, and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 lost 4.4%.
U.S. stocks, which tanked toward the end of last week as the “Magnificent Seven” mega-cap tech stocks lost more than $1 trillion in a single day, were also sharply lower on Monday.
Global equity markets were rocked during the afternoon Europe session, briefly spiking into the green following a media report and social media speculation about a potential tariff pause. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNBC’s Eamon Javers on Monday that any talk of a 90-day pause was “fake news.”
Further uncertainty was delivered just before the European close, as Trump threatened to hike tariffs on China by another 50% unless it scraps retaliatory duties.
Last week, the regional Stoxx 600 index notched an 8.4% loss, marking its worst week in five years. In the past decade, the Stoxx 600 only performed worse at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Trump announced his full list of so-called reciprocal tariffs, with investors surprised by the extent to which imports from key U.S. trading partners would be hit with new duties.
The move also sparked fears of a global trade war, with China retaliating by slapping 34% tariffs on U.S. goods and the EU vowing to impose countermeasures of its own if negotiations with America fail.
In Asia on Monday, stocks also continued to sell off, led by shares listed in China. Asian economies are set to be among those hit hardest by reciprocal tariffs, with Vietnam targeted by 46% duties, China with new 34% tariffs, while Cambodia has been hit with 49% tariffs and Sri Lanka with 44%. Many of the region’s economies play key roles in international firms’ supply chains.
Despite the market reaction, Trump has doubled down on his trade policies. On Sunday, the president told reporters that while he didn’t want markets to go down, “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/07/europe-markets-live-news-stocks-tariffs-economy.html
