Share Fall Eases After North American Tariff Deals

The BBC is reporting that jitters seemed to ease on Monday when the US, Canada and Mexico reached agreements to delay tariffs on imports to the US for a month.

But stock markets in Europe headed downwards on Tuesday, as border taxes on Chinese goods coming into the US kicked in and Beijing hit back with tariffs of its own on American products, as well as a bunch of other retaliatory measures against Washington.

In the UK, FTSE 100 index of blue chip companies ticked 0.28 per cent lower.

In France, the CAC-40 crept up a little after beginning the day in the red while in Frankfurt, the DAX index dipped.

Investors will now be watching whether US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping can reach a deal when they talk later this week – and whether Trump follows through on his threat to hit Europe with tariffs.