Europe: Stocks rise at open

[LONDON] European stock markets rose in opening trade on Friday despite news that US President Donald Trump has pulled the trigger on a steep increase in tariffs on Chinese goods.

In initial deals, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index advanced 0.6 per cent to 7,252.38 points.

In the eurozone, the Paris CAC 40 index gained 0.8 per cent to 5,353.50 points and Frankfurt's DAX 30 jumped 1.1 per cent to 12,105.28, compared with Thursday's closing levels.

The United States has ramped up punitive duties on US$200 billion in imports from China from 10 to 25 per cent, in a major escalation of the bitter trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

"Trump was true to his word," said analyst Neil Wilson at British-based trading site Markets.com.

"This marks a sharp escalation in the trade spat, but it's not gone nuclear yet."

AFP