The rapid plunge in European stocks sparked by Donald Trump’s tariffs has wiped out gains for the year, dashing investor optimism that the region’s markets would be a beneficiary of the US president’s trade war.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index has tumbled 9 per cent since Trump sent equities around the world into a tailspin by announcing levies on US imports on April 2 that were more aggressive than expected.
Although markets rebounded on Tuesday, the sell-off has bruised investors who piled into European shares earlier in the year in a bet that fiscal stimulus and increased defence spending would help markets that have long lagged behind Wall Street play catch-up.