Europe: Stock markets slump after trade war escalates

[LONDON] European stock markets tumbled at the start of business on Friday after US President Donald Trump dramatically escalated the trade war with China by slapping tariffs on US$300 billion of goods.

London's blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell 1.6 per cent in early trading, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt slumped 2.2 per cent and the CAC 40 in Paris tumbled 2.3 per cent.

"Europe has opened deep in negative territory on the final day of the week as investors respond to another escalation in the US-China trade war," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at online currency trading platform Oanda.

Mr Trump slapped the 10 per cent tariffs on US$300 billion of Chinese goods from September 1 after high-level talks were held this week in Shanghai to resolve their trade dispute.

"Expectations for the talks were low but few expected the week would end in more tariffs," said Mr Erlam.

AFP