Major bourses in Europe were lower on Thursday, with both the STOXX 50 and the STOXX 600 declining almost 1%, pressured by the auto sector. Yesterday, the Trump administration announced a 25% tariff on "all cars that are not made in the United States" due to take effect on April 2 and President Trump threatened to impose "far larger" tariffs on the EU and Canada if they work together to combat trade tariffs. The autos and part index sank about 3% to hit the lowest level since early December. Shares of Porsche (-5.4%), Mercedes-Benz (-5.4%), BMW (-4.3%), VW (-3.7%), Daimler Truck Holding (-2.5%) were all falling. Shares of Volvo Cars plunged about 5.6% to hit a record low and Stellantis lost about 5%. Tech and chip stocks were also under pressure, namely ASML Holding (-1.2%), STMicroelectronics (-2.2%), Infineon (-2.8%) and Dassault System (-3.8%) sinking.
Source: Trading Economics