European shares are taking a hit with trade-sensitive sectors after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to raise U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods if a deal could not be reached with Beijing.
Trade-reliant shares of Germany and France dropped about 0.7% by 0819 GMT, leading declines among major regional indexes, while the broader European STOXX 600 index fell 0.5%.
Trump’s latest threat raised fears of an impasse in the U.S.-China trade negotiations, driving Europe’s stocks benchmark lower for a third straight session and farther from a four-year peak.
British home improvement retailer Kingfisher’s shares tumbled 7.7% to the bottom of STOXX 600 after it reported a worsening fall in underlying sales in the third quarter.
Another big decliner was German payments company Wirecard, which fell 5.6% on news auditor EY refused to sign off on the Singapore audit of the company for 2017, citing irregularities.
(Content and photos syndicated via Reuters)