Euronews Business takes a look at how European and global markets are performing on Tuesday, amid escalating global tariff tensions.
European markets opened mostly mixed on Tuesday morning as investors consider how US President Donald Trump’s decisions on tariffs will impact company stocks – and the wider economy.
Britain’s FTSE index opened 0.10% lower on Tuesday morning, while Germany’s DAX index rose 0.6%. France’s CAC 40 index also advanced, by 0.4%. The STOXX 600 index dropped 0.2% on Tuesday morning.
Investors are increasingly spooked following US president Donald Trump’s recent comments about a ‘period of transition’, which pointed towards the possibility of an economic downturn.
“Trump’s message at the weekend was that he is willing to accept some economic pain for long-term structural change – the market is now pricing in that pain. Investors are beginning to accept that they can no longer depend on Trump’s assumed sensitivity to market performance to trigger a policy pivot,” Kyle Chapman, FX markets analyst at Ballinger Group, told Euronews.
Asia-Pacific markets overnight
In the Asia-Pacific region, stocks were still lacklustre overnight, extending a market sell-off.
“Asian stocks plunged Tuesday as fears of a prolonged US-China trade war fueled recession concerns, exacerbated by president Donald Trump’s comments about a ‘period of transition’ without ruling out an economic downturn,” IG said in an email note to clients.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 sank 0.6% to 36,793.11, its lowest close in six months but up from a more than 2% loss earlier in the day.
China’s Shanghai Composite index picked up 0.4% to 3,379.83 as the country’s annual national congress wrapped up its annual session with some measures to help boost the slowing economy.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was nearly unchanged at 23,782.14.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.9% to 7,890.10. South Korea’s Kospi declined 1.2% to 2,537.60.
US markets – closing prices on Monday
The stock fall in Asia echoed a sell-off on Wall Street with the tech-heavy Nasdaq index shedding 4% – the biggest single-day loss since 2022 – wiping off $1.1 trillion (€710 billion) in market valuation. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 closed 2.7% lower on Monday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2.1% at the end of the trading session.
It comes as the US economy’s growth forecasts have been slashed by Goldman Sachs, which now expects it to rise by 1.7% in 2025, down from an earlier forecast of 2.4%.
The Magnificent Seven stocks led the broad market decline, as US President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs raised concerns over profit margins, increasing price barriers for tech giants. “The markets are now also contending with the risk of weaker earnings from slower growth and eroded margins from the higher costs created by tariffs,” Kyle Rodd, a senior market analyst at Compital.com Australia, wrote in an email.
Commodities and currencies
In commodities, US crude oil was up 0.42% at $66.31 a barrel on Tuesday morning, while Brent crude rose 0.3% to $69.50 per barrel.
Gold, meanwhile, was up 0.5% to $2,900.4 (€2,661.6) per ounce in early morning trading, hovering near record highs.
The EUR/USD pair rose 0.6% on Tuesday morning, with the EUR/GBP pair also up 0.2%.
Company earnings today
In corporate updates, Volkswagen’s share price was up 1.60% on Tuesday morning as the German car group announced its latest full-year 2024 results. The company reported a 15% fall in annual profit but said it expects revenue to rise in 2025.
Lego, Persimmon and Leonardo also have earnings reports out on Tuesday.