Sawt Falasteen - European stock markets slide as Trump targets EU with tariffs

Only London stocks managed to stay out of the red in afternoon trading after Trump warned Wednesday that he would hit the European Union with 25 percent tariffs.

"As concerns swirls about the latest tariff threats emanating from the White House... caution remains the name of the game amid a murky outlook for the global economy," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.

The threat against Europe came after Trump went back on the offensive over trade, signing a memo last weekend calling for curbs on Chinese investments in industries including technology and critical infrastructure, healthcare and energy.

Trump caused some confusion over the timing and extent of other measures announced against Canada and Mexico, however, with analysts saying there was still some debate on whether he would delay implementation or water down his plans.

Wall Street opened higher, although shares in Nvidia quickly lost their pre-market gains despite the generative AI chipmaker posting record revenues late Wednesday and its guidance for this quarter beat expectations.

The firm is seen as a bellwether for the artificial intelligence revolution, and while there had been worries that the emergence of low-cost generative AI chatbot from Chinese firm DeepSeek could darken the outlook for the sector, Nvidia reported strong demand for its latest chip.

The post-results performance, the first since DeepSeek's new chatbot was released, contrasts with jumps in previous quarters, which analysts noted may have also been due to the results exceeding expectations by less than previously and its growth rate slowing.

"While a slowdown in growth was expected, it helps to explain the rather muted reaction," said Trade Nation analyst David Morrison.

XTB Research Director Kathleen Brooks said "DeepSeek's arrival signifies that China is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to AI capabilities, and this is also knocking sentiment for US tech stocks, it could also limit the upside for Nvidia's stock price after this solid earnings report."

In Asian trading, Hong Kong went above 24,000 points for the first time since 2022, thanks to another outstanding performance by Chinese tech giants.

But traders soon took their cash off the table and the market ended in the red, scenes mirrored elsewhere in Asia.

Thursday saw some big share-price movements among major companies.

While the Tokyo exchange closed higher, 7-Eleven owner Seven & i tumbled 11 percent after the convenience store giant said its founding family had failed to put together a white-knight buyout.

The firm rejected an offer last year worth nearly $40 billion from Canadian rival Alimentation Couche-Tard, which would have been the biggest foreign buyout of a Japanese firm.

In London, engine maker Rolls-Royce surged 16 percent while advertising giant WPP slumped 15.7 percent as traders reacted to earnings updates from the pair.

- Key figures around 1430 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 43,490.14 points

New York - Dow: S&P 500: UP 0.5 percent at 43,490.14

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 43,490.14

London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,733.12

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.8 percent at 8,077.21

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 1.0 percent at 22,556.35

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 38,256.17 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 23,718.29 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,388.06 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0436 from $1.0480 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2640 from $1.2672

Dollar/yen: UP at 149.90 from 149.13 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 82.58 pence from 82.70 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.5 percent at $73.17 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.9 percent at $69.91 per barrel

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S.Barghouti--SF-PST