Illustration of food items placed on the belt of a cash register in a Leclerc supermarket in Valence, France, April 4, 2025.
Nicolas Guyonnet | Afp | Getty Images
LONDON — European stocks opened lower on Tuesday as tariff uncertainty causes global markets to waver.
The U.K.’s FTSE index is in the red by 0.4%, Germany’s DAX is down by 0.8% and Italy’s FTSE MIB and France’s CAC 40 are just a touch into negative territory.
Regional bourses kicked off the new trading month higher on Monday, with the defense and health-care sectors receiving a boost from corporate news.
The mood has changed overnight, however, with Asia-Pacific markets trading mixed and U.S. stock futures little changed on Monday night, with investors weighing the trade landscape after a U.S. federal appeals court ruled that most of President Donald Trump’s global tariffs are illegal.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit determined in a 7-4 ruling that only Congress has the authority to apply sweeping levies. Trump called the decision “Highly Partisan” and has said that he will appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Those developments could weigh on U.S. market sentiment in September, which is, historically, the worst month for equities, with the S&P 500 averaging a 4.2% drop over the last five years, and falling more than 2% on average over the last 10.
On Tuesday, regional investors will be keeping a close eye on euro zone inflation data released at 10 a.m. London time. Spanish unemployment data is also due.
— CNBC’s Sarah Min contributed to this market report.
