Europe close: Stocks fall as Trump takes aim at Iran; Fiat Chrysler drops on CEO news
European stocks ended in the red on Monday as a warning from G-20 finance ministers and US President Trump's latest outburst on Twitter dented sentiment.
The benchmark Stoxx 600 index ended down 0.2% at 384.88, Germany's DAX closed 0.4% lower at 12,548.57 and France's CAC 40 was off 0.4% at 5,378.25.
On Sunday, G-20 finance ministers failed to agree on how to tackle the multiple disagreements between participants over US trade tariffs.
Meanwhile, a growing war of words between Washington and Tehran at the weekend was also making headlines, with the Iranian President telling the US: "America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars."
Trump responded with an all-caps tweet that read: "Never, ever threaten the United States again or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before. We are no longer a country that will stand for your demented words of violence and death. Be cautious!"
Investors were already on their guard in the wake of the recent weakening of the Chinese yuan, although on Monday it strengthened slightly, giving markets a bit of a breather.
The mood was also still being undermined by Trump's criticism last week of his country's central bank and accusations of currency manipulation against China and the euro area.
Looking ahead, investors were waiting on a meeting between Donald Trump and European Commission chief, Jean Claude Juncker, on Wednesday, that analysts at UniCredit said might prove to be the most important risk event of the whole week, more so than the European Central Bank's policy meeting scheduled for Wednesday or a preliminary reading on US second quarter GDP growth, next Friday.
On the corporate front, budget carrier Ryanair slid after the company reported a 20% drop in first quarter profits as higher costs and strikes took their toll. Although management at the Irish discount airline stood by its full-year guidance, it said its outlook was "heavily dependent" on how it fared in the third quarter, as well as strikes by cabin crews and air traffic controllers.
Fiat Chrysler was also lower following news that its boss, Sergio Marchionne, had been replaced by Jeep and ram chief, Mike Manley, after falling seriously ill.
Asset manager Julius Baer was down despite reporting a 26% jump in profits to a record CHF443.8m, as assets under management over the first six months of the year rose from CHF354.7bn to CHF399.9bn.
France's Atos slumped as the IT services group put out half-year results and announced the acquisition of Michigan-based IT services provider Syntel Inc for $3.4bn.