(Reuters) – European shares dipped on Friday, heading for a steep weekly loss, as investors grappled with prospects of a global recession after U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on trading partners.
The pan-European STOXX index fell 0.9% at 0710 GMT, taking its losses for the week to 4.4%, the sharpest weekly decline since June 2022.
Europe was hit with a 20% U.S. import tariff rate, prompting traders to increase their bets on interest rate cuts from the European Central Bank to shore up economic growth.
European banks, sensitive to economic outlook, racked up the most losses among sectors, shedding 3.8%.
A crucial March U.S. jobs report at 1230 GMT will be scrutinized to gauge the health of the world’s biggest economy before the latest round of tariffs ignited recession fears.
Data on Friday showed German industrial orders stagnated in February and the January data were upwardly revised, showing that Germany’s industrial sector could have bottomed out but the recovery may be slow.
Among stocks, Gerresheimer fell 6% after a report said KKR has abandoned a private equity consortium discussing a takeover of the German speciality packaging maker.
(Reporting by Medha Singh and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
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