European stocks were set to open lower on Wednesday, with markets struggling to maintain Tuesday’s positive momentum as country-specific tariffs from the U.S. started taking effect.
The regional Stoxx 600 index had closed in the green on Tuesday, snapping a four-day loosing streak. The move higher came after Asia-Pacific stocks had kicked off a global equity rebound, which U.S. stocks also initially joined before pulling back.
Unease about the fallout from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and retaliatory measures from the U.S.’ trading partners weighed on markets as concerns about more duties being announced grew and uncertainty persisted.
Trump on Tuesday suggested the U.S. would soon announce “a very major tariff on pharmaceuticals,” and tripled the previously announced tariff rates on low-value packages exported to the U.S. from China via the international postal system.
A slew of tariffs came into effect just after midnight stateside, with duties being enforced on imports from dozens of countries. The measures include a 104% tariff on Chinese imports.
Some targeted countries are expected to hit back at the United States, including Canada, which on Tuesday reconfirmed plans to impose 25% retaliatory tariffs on U.S.-made vehicles.
U.S. stock futures were last lower as investors braced themselves for potentially another rollercoaster day on Wall Street. Asia-Pacific markets also widely fell Wednesday.
— CNBC’s Christina Wilkie contributed to this report.
European stocks head for lower open
European stocks were headed for a lower open on Wednesday after finishing the day in positive territory on Tuesday.
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was last set to fall 187 points to 7,701, the French CAC 40 was on track to shed 232 points to 6,861, and Germany’s DAX was on course to fall 668 points to 19,581, according to IG data. Italy’s FTSE MIB was set to lose 1,379 points to 31,627.
— Sophie Kiderlin
South Korea’s Kospi lost 20% from its July high, confirming a bear market.
The benchmark is currently down by over 1%. Amongst the index heavyweights, SK Hynix is down over 3% and Samsung Biologics is 0.9% lower.
Just last Monday, South Korea lifted the longest short-selling ban in the country’s history, after tightening measures to crack down on illegal transactions.
—Lee Ying Shan
The S&P 500’s 1.6% decline during regular trading on Tuesday has brought the broad market index nearly 19% off of its February closing record, which is just inches away from a bear market.
A decline of 20% from a previous record high constitutes a bear market on Wall Street. The index needs to slip a further 1.35% to officially enter a bear market.
— Brian Evans
Stock futures fell on Tuesday, as investors prepare for President Donald Trump’s tariffs on 86 countries, including China, that are set to take effect at midnight.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 284 points, or 0.74%. Nasdaq-100 futures declined 0.88%, while S&P 500 futures pulled back 0.89%.
— Brian Evans
