BRUSSELS, Belgium: Trade tensions intensified after United States (US) President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese imports on Friday, following China’s decision to expand export controls on rare earth metals, reported dpa-AFX.
“I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so,” Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“One of the policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of tariffs on Chinese products coming into the US.”
The ongoing political tension in France weighed on sentiment.
Defence stocks were under pressure after the Israeli Government reportedly approved the first stage of a peace deal that will see the release of hostages held by Hamas.
Israel’s Defence Forces said a ceasefire agreement in Gaza came into effect on Friday, and troops were pulled back in some parts of the enclave.
Miners, pharmaceuticals, and technology stocks also ended notably lower.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 1.25 per cent.
The UK’s FTSE 100 ended 0.86 per cent down, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 closed down by 1.5 per cent and 1.53 per cent, respectively, while Switzerland’s SMI lost 1.01 per cent.
Among other markets in Europe, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden closed with sharp to moderate losses.
Austria, Finland and Norway closed marginally down. The Czech Republic and Greece ended weak, while Poland and Turkey closed flat.
In economic news, United Kingdom (UK) permanent job placements declined at a softer pace and candidate supply increased sharply amid falling demand for staff in September, monthly data from S&P Global showed.
Permanent staff appointments dropped at the weakest pace in a year in September.
That said, employers were hesitant to take on new workers due to weaker economic conditions and cost concerns, the KPMG/REC Report on Jobs said.
Meanwhile, temporary workers billings dropped at a solid pace that was faster than in August.
Starting pay for permanent workers grew at the slowest pace in the current sequence of rise that began just over four-and-a-half years ago.
Temporary workers’ pay growth also slowed in September.
Data showed that overall vacancies continued to drop but the rate of contraction eased only slightly from August’s six-month record. – BERNAMA-dpa-AFX
