European Shares Decline As Tariff Worries Return To Haunt

(RTTNews) - European stocks fell on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 35 percent tariff on Canadian imports, starting Aug. 1, in a dramatic escalation of a trade war with the United States' closest ally over the country's alleged role in fentanyl flows.

He also talked about blanket tariffs of 15 percent to 20 percent on most of America's trading partners and announced plans to make a 'major statement' on Russia, denting investors' appetite for riskier assets.

Investors also waited for a word on tariffs for the European Union. The U.S. currently imposes 50 percent tariffs on EU steel and aluminum, 25 percent on cars and 10 percent on all EU imports.

The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.8 percent to 548.57 but was on track for a weekly gain.

The German DAX lost 1 percent, France's CAC 40 shed 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.3 percent.

In corporate news, BP Plc shares jumped 2.5 percent after the oil and gas giant said it expects higher oil output and strong trading performance in the second quarter.

Carclo, a global leader in high-precision components, tumbled 3.6 percent after announcing a delay to the publication of its audited results.

Budget airline Norwegian Air Shuttle soared 8 percent after reporting strong second quarter results.

On the data front, the U.K. economy shrank unexpectedly in May on a sharp fall in industrial output, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed.

Gross domestic product fell 0.1 percent in May, following a 0.3 percent drop in April.

France's consumer price inflation increased to 1.0 percent in June from 0.7 percent in May, according to final data from the statistical office INSEE. June's inflation was revised up from 0.9 percent.

Elsewhere, German wholesale prices grew 0.9 percent on a yearly basis in June, following April's 0.4 percent increase, Destatis reported. The increase in June was the fastest in three months.