European Shares Retreat On Tariff Worries

(RTTNews) - European shares fell notably on Friday as U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that sweeping 25 percent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, along with an additional 10 percent tariffs on Chinese imports, will take effect on March 4.

Trump has also threatened the EU with steep tariffs but signaled the U.K. could broker a "real trade deal" and escape tariffs.

In economic releases, German retail sales rose 0.2 percent sequentially in January after a 1.6 percent drop in December, according to official data from Destatis.

The number of people out of work in Germany rose in February but at a slower rate than expected.

Elsewhere, U.K. house price grew at a pace of 0.4 percent on a monthly basis in February after a 0.1 percent gain in the previous month, the Nationwide Building Society reported.

The pan European STOXX 600 was down 0.6 percent at 553.55 after falling half a percent in the previous session.

The German DAX fell 0.7 percent, France's CAC 40 shed 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.2 percent.

Lower metal prices weighed on mining stocks, with Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore falling 1-2 percent.

Automakers extended declines, with BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz and Renault down 1-2 percent.

British Airways owner IAG rallied 3.7 percent after reporting a second consecutive year of record profits.

Education firm Pearson jumped nearly 4 percent following the announcement of a £350 million share buyback program and a solid set of results.

German insurer Allianz was marginally higher after delivering another set of record financial results underpinned by strong performance across all segments.

BASF fell 2.2 percent. The chemicals giant has warned of challenges such as high geopolitical and trade policy uncertainty after posting an adjusted EBITDA of €1.57 billion, slightly below market expectations.

Car parts supplier Valeo slumped almost 12 percent as CEO Christophe Perillat warned of a marginal impact on earnings from U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium.