Europe open: Rally stalls as investors eye latest tariff moves

(Sharecast News) - European shares opened lower on Thursday ending the short-lived rally as investors digested the latest tariff gyrations from Washington and a flurry of first-quarter corporate announcements. The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was down almost half a percent in early trade to 514 points. Germany's DAX was down the same amount while France's CAC-40 fell 0.67%.

Markets rallied on Wednesday after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hinted at the possibility of a "big deal" to drastically de-escalate the tariff war with China.

Bessent said the White House was prepared to discuss the reduction of trade imbalances with Beijing, after Washington slapped 145% tariffs on Chinese goods.

Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Matt Britzman said: "European markets are taking a breather this morning ... after a strong showing yesterday. The investing world is back to hanging onto every word out of the White House, but with such a confusing and often contradictory stance on tariffs, volatility is all we can really guarantee."

In equity news, Kering shares were down after the French luxury goods group and Gucci owner posted lower than expected first-quarter sales and warned of further macroeconomic headwinds.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com