European Equities Fall to Over Three-Month Lows

By Investors Hub

European stocks have fallen sharply to hit over three-month lows on Friday, as growing global trade tensions as well as weak manufacturing data from China have stoked recession fears.

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced new tariffs on all goods coming from Mexico in an attempt to curb illegal immigration to the U.S.

Trump announced in a post on Twitter that beginning June 10 a 5 percent tariff would be imposed and would slowly rise until the situation is resolved.

China’s manufacturing activity declined in May for the first time in three months, raising fresh concerns about the growth outlook.

While the German DAX Index has plunged by 1.9 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 1.5 percent and the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index is down by 1.1 percent.

Tariff worries are weighing on the auto sector, with BMW, Daimler, Volkswagen and Renault showing notable moves to the downside.

Spanish banks Santander, Sabadell and Bilbao, which have substantial presence in Mexico, have also moved sharply lower.

German payments company Wirecard has plunged after a Handelsblatt report on an investigation by authorities into fraudulent transactions in the sector.

In economic news, data from Destatis showed German retail sales rebounded in April, driven by the timing of Easter.

Retail sales rebounded at a faster-than-expected pace of 4 percent annually in April, reversing a 2 percent fall in March. Sales were forecast to grow by 1.3 percent.

U.K. house prices increased at a slower pace in May, data from Nationwide Building Society showed. House prices grew 0.6 percent year-on-year in May, slower than the 0.9 percent increase seen in April.