European stocks end week sharply lower after China's tariff response

LONDON

European stocks closed the week with huge losses as investors' worries escalated after China retaliated to U.S. reciprocal tariffs with its own 34 percent tariff on all goods imported from the U.S. starting April 10.

The tariffs, set to go into effect next Thursday, will affect all U.S. products imported to China, according to a Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council statement.

The statement called the U.S.' reciprocal tariffs one-sided "bullying," adding that they violate international trade rules and harm China's rights and interests.

China was subjected to 34 percent reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday when Trump signed an executive order imposing reciprocal tariffs on many countries.

On counter-tariffs from China, U.S. President Donald Trump said that Beijing has "panicked" in its trade policy response to his administration's recent tariff actions.

“CHINA PLAYED IT WRONG, THEY PANICKED - THE ONE THING THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO DO!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

On the macroeconomic data side, Germany's factory orders posted no change in February month-on-month, missing expectations of a 3.4 percent increase.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 5.12 percent, or 26.79 points, to 496.33, posting its largest weekly loss of the year, down 8.3 percent from the week before.

Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 4.95 percent — 419.76 points — to close at 8,054.98, while Germany's DAX 40 index fell 4.95 percent, or 1,075.67 points, to 20,641.72.

France's CAC 40 also was off 4.26 percent, or 324.03 points, to 7,274.95, and Italy's FTSE MIB 30 index dove 6.53 percent to 34,649.22 in a 2,421.61-point dip.

Meanwhile, The Asia Dow, which tracks leading blue-chip companies across the region, fell 9.25% to 3,636.19 points as of 06:31 GMT.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index declined 7.68 percent, closing at 31,187.50 points.

The Hang Seng Index, a key benchmark for Hong Kong's blue-chip stocks, plunged 12.46 percent to 20,002 points — marking its worst single-day performance in 16 years.

China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange dropped 8.48 percent to 3,058.74 points, while India’s Sensex index shed 3.76%, closing at 72,531.45.