Europe open: Steep declines for stocks, focus on trade tariffs and White House
Stocks are extending their steep declines from the previous session as traders monitor a cascade of news on the heightening trade tensions between the US and China and the White House's decision to name a controversial foreign-affairs specialist to the post of national security adviser, in replacement for HR McMaster.
Overnight, the White House opened the door to tariffs on at least $50bn of Chinese-made goods, although in a somewhat unexpected move it left the door open to negotiations with Beijing, even as China responded with its own $3bn-worth of measures on US goods in response to previous American levies on steel and aluminium.
Despite the measured response from China, and Washington's somewhat less aggressive than expected stance, according to Bloomberg Stephen Roach, Morgan Stanley's ex-chief economist, said: "China's response is surprisingly modest in light of the US actions, suggesting there could be a good deal more to come.
"As America's third largest and most rapidly growing export market and as the largest foreign owner of Treasuries, China has considerably more leverage over the U.S. than Washington politicians care to admit."
As of 1030 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was trading down by 1.16% or 4.31 points to 364.85, alongside a fall of 1.56% or 188.82 points to 11,911.48 on the German Dax and a retreat of 1.53% or 78.78 points to 5,088.43 on the Cac-40.
Also weighing on sentiment was another change in the US administration's top ranks, with the White House replacing national security adviser HR McMaster with John Bolton, one of the more controversial proponents of the Iraq war.
No major economic releases were expected on the Continent on Friday.
Later in the session, in the States, data on durable godos orders for February were scheduled for release at 1230 GMT, followed by figures on new US home sales at 1400.
Most important however would likely be speeches from three top Fed officials, including the Atlanta Fed's Bostic at 1210 GMT, followed by Minneapolis Fed chief Neel Kashkari at 1430 GMT and the Boston Fed's Rosengren at midnight.