A look at the market jitters ahead of the new round of US tariffs – with US media speculating it is set to be a blanket 20% tariff on all non-American goods.
Cliff notes – European stocks drop as investors panic
- European markets were lower on Wednesday as investors ahead of the latest US tariffs
- The tariff announcement (expected at 21:00 BST) could bring in an era of slow global growth and higher inflation
- The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.5% as of 0712 GMT
- The lack of clarity over the size of the tariffs has rattled sentiment, pushing the STOXX 600 to more than two-month lows this week and about 4.6% below its all-time high in March
- Eurozone bond yields, however, were little changed
- German 10-year bond yield, the benchmark for the eurozone bloc, was unchanged at 2.685
- Italy’s 10-year yield was also steady at 3.796%, and French 10-year bond yields held at 3.404%
- Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday, with benchmarks little changed
- Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.3% at 35,725.87. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.1% at 23,176.47, while the Shanghai Composite was down less than 0.1% at 3,346.66. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.1% at 7,934.50. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.7% to 2,504.86.
