Workers assemble cars on the assembly line at a Volkswagen automobile factory on March 7, 2025, in Wolfsburg, Germany.
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Shares listed in Europe opened lower on Friday, as investors continue to assess the full scope of the European Union’s trade deal with America.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.1% lower by 8:25 a.m. in London (3:25 a.m. ET), with most sectors in negative territory.
London’s FTSE 100, down 0.2%, led losses among major regional bourses, while the German DAX was around 0.17% lower and France’s CAC 40 was little changed.
Midway through Thursday’s trading session, officials announced in-depth details of the deal struck between Washington and Brussels late last month.
In an agreement reached last month, the EU said it would spend $750 billion on U.S. energy and invest a minimum of $600 billion in the United States — in exchange, blanket tariffs on its goods were set at 15% instead of the 30% rate threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump.
An update on Thursday confirmed those details, and revealed that pharmaceuticals exported from the EU to the U.S. will see tariffs capped at 15%. That alleviated some concerns, as U.S. President Donald Trump had previously threatened to slap the sector with tariffs as high as 250%.
Following a lackluster immediate reaction to the news, the Stoxx Europe Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology index rose to close around 0.6% higher on Thursday.
Automotive stocks, meanwhile, closed in negative territory as market participants reacted to the “conditional” nature of lower tariffs on the sector. Officials revealed on Thursday that duties on European exports to the U.S. would not be slashed from current levels until Brussels lowers its own industrial duties.
Elsewhere on Friday, a revised reading of Germany’s gross domestic product showed that Europe’s largest economy shrank by 0.3% over the second quarter, a sharper decline than an earlier reading had suggested.
— CNBC’s Sophie Kiderlin contributed to this report.
