European stock markets traded in a mixed fashion Tuesday as investors fretted over the start of a trade war between China and the US, while digesting a slew of quarterly earning reports.
At 03:05 ET (08:05 GMT), the DAX index in Germany gained 0.3% and the CAC 40 in France rose 0.1%, while the FTSE 100 in the UK fell 0.3%.
Trade war fears hit sentiment
US President Donald Trump’s previously announced 10% tariffs on China took effect earlier Tuesday, with the deadline passing without any word from the White House on relief.
Beijing retaliated, announcing early Tuesday that it would levy tariffs of up to 15% on select US imports, including on crude oil, and also announced an antitrust probe into Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), and added clothing firm PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH) and biotechnology firm Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) to a list of unreliable entities.
The retaliatory measures pointed to the start of a renewed trade war between the world’s biggest economies, with investors now bracing for escalation, which is likely to further destabilize global trade.
Sentiment had received a boost late Monday after Trump had postponed a proposed 25% import duty on Canada and Mexico by 30 days. But he offered no such forgiveness for China, and is only set to speak with President Xi Jinping later in the week.
UBS announced $3bn share buyback
There is little on the European economic data slate Tuesday, so investors will focus on the quarterly earnings season, with a number of the region’s senior companies reporting.
UBS (NYSE:UBS) posted net income of $770 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, trouncing forecasts, while Switzerland’s largest bank also announced a hefty share buyback program of up to $3 billion for this year.
BNP Paribas (OTC:BNPQY) reported a forecast-beating jump in net income in the fourth quarter, but the eurozone’s biggest bank by assets lowered a key profit target for 2025 and said it would cut costs further.
Diageo (LON:DGE), the world's top spirits maker, withdrew its medium-term organic sales growth target, citing macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty hurting the pace of its recovery.
Publicis (EPA:PUBP), the world's largest advertising group by market capitalization, announced it expects organic growth of 4% to 5% in 2025, a slight slowdown compared to the robust performance in 2024.
Vodafone (NASDAQ:VOD) reiterated its full-year guidance, but the UK-based telecoms group reported another deterioration in Germany, its biggest market, in its third quarter, a weak point in otherwise stronger trading in Britain, Turkey and Africa.
Amundi (EPA:AMUN), Europe's biggest fund manager, posted net inflows in the fourth quarter of E20.5 billion, bringing total assets under management to a record E2.24 trillion, as demand for risk-averse products remained strong over the last three months of the year.
Crude falls as Chinese tariffs hit
Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday as US tariffs on China took effect, prompting retaliation from Beijing and the potential for global economic output to be severely disrupted.
By 03:05 ET, the US crude futures (WTI) slipped 1.6% to $72.03 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 0.9% to $75.31 a barrel.
US tariffs of 10% on Chinese imports took effect in Asian trade, spurring Beijing to retaliate with levies of 15% on U.S. coal and liquefied natural gas and 10% on crude oil starting from Feb. 10.
