Europe midday: Stoxx trims losses despite Trump tariff

23rd Feb 2026 11:17

(Sharecast News) - European shares trimmed morning losses on Monday after US President Donald Trump imposed a blanket 15% tariff on imports after his initial global levy policy was ruled illegal by the Supreme Court.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index fell 0.17% to 629 at 1200 GMT with all major bourses lower. Germany's DAX was down 0.36% and France's CAC 40 was up 0.06% amid confusion as to how the decision would affect existing deals with European nations.

Shares hit record highs on Friday after the court ruled 6-3 that most of Trump's so-called "reciprocal" tariffs were illegal. A predictably enraged Trump said he would use a different law to impose a 10% across-the-board levy for all imports to the US but then later lifted this to 15%.

The dollar fell to $1.35 against the pound and $1.18 against the euro. Gold also ticked up 0.61% to $5,138 as investors sought a safe haven from the turmoil with shares in miner Fresnillo gaining as a result.

"A weekend of confusion may yet have revived the 'sell America' trade, with Dow futures indicating lower as a result," said Interactive Investor head of markets Richard Hunter.

"Tariff developments have turned the situation into an unholy mess, prompting far more questions than answers. After the Supreme Court ruled against the President's tariffs, the implications are far from clear."

"No reference was apparently made in the ruling as to whether the monies raised from tariffs so far would need to be repaid and, even if this is the case, whether the refunds would go to companies or the ultimate customer who will have suffered higher prices."

In other equity news, Johnson Matthey slumped after the platinum refiner slashed the sale price of its catalyst unit to Honeywell by almost half a billion pounds amid reports the US conglomerate was mulling walking away from the deal because of the unit's poor performance.

JD Sports Fashion was up after launching a £200m share buyback.

Ventilation specialist Belimo tumbled after annual results.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com