Europe close: Stocks end mostly lower on trade tensions, Ukraine also in focus
European shares were mostly lower on Thursday, after the White House threatened to place a 2005 tariff on EU wine, champagne and spirits in response to the bloc's own retaliatory measures.
The day before Brussels had threatened to impose levies on US exports of whiskey in a riposte to US duties on aluminium and steel that had gone into effect the night before.
The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was off by 0.15% at 540.44.
Meanwhile, Germany’s DAX - which had jumped in recent days on hopes of higher defence and infrastructure spending by the incoming government - was down 0.48% to 22,567.14.
Spain's Ibex 35 managed to eke out a a gain of 0.14% to end at 12,821.30.
On a more positive note, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to back America's ceasefire proposal, but said that the details needed to ironed out and that any deal should lead to an enduring peace.
Putin and the US Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, were expected to meet later on Thursday evening.
Elsewhere on the macro front, data released by Eurostat showed that eurozone industrial production rose 0.8% on the month in January, coming in above expectations for a 0.6% jump.
ING analyst Bert Colijn said: "While volatile, the January industrial production data does suggest that industrial activity may be stabilising after a long decline that started in 2023. The January production level was the highest since August last year and has been mainly driven by stronger capital and intermediate goods production while energy and consumer goods production posted declines.
"By country, the increase was mainly driven by stronger German production while France and Spain saw declines."
In equity news, vehicle manufacturers were sharply lower, with Daimler Truck, Volvo, and Saab all weaker. Parts supplier Valeo was also down.
Hugo Boss shares fell 4% as the fashion brand issued a cautious growth forecast for the year, citing "macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility" and continued weakness in China.
Shares in Allegro surged 14% as the Polish e-commerce platform said it expects its earnings to rise 8%-12% in its home market this year and proposed a share buyback of around 1.4 billion zlotys. Fourth-quarter earnings also beat expectations.
Novo Nordisk traded higher after Kepler Cheuvreux upgraded the shares to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’.