Europe: Shares in the red at open

[BRUSSELS] European equities opened in the red on Friday (Apr 4), extending losses after US President Donald Trump’s tariff offensive sparked a global stock market rout.

Paris shed 0.9 per cent to 7,533.26 points, Frankfurt fell 0.7 per cent to 21,566.33 and London also dropped 0.7 per cent to 8,416.32.

Trump’s harsher-than-expected “Liberation Day” levies sent shockwaves through markets on Thursday, with Wall Street suffering its worst day since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic and the dollar tanking against major peers.

The Paris CAC 40 of blue-chip stocks closed 3.3 per cent lower on Thursday, while Frankfurt’s DAX fell 3.0 per cent and London’s FTSE 100 had more limited losses of 1.6 per cent.

British goods face a 10 per cent tariff, lower than the 20 per cent Trump is imposing on the European Union.

“The global economy has now entered a dark tunnel. No one knows what’s next,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank. AFP