BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The European markets dropped on their first day back after the long Easter holiday weekend. Traders had their first opportunity to react to the rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China after China imposed retaliatory tariffs on 128 products imported from the U.S.
Yesterday's weak performance on Wall Street also contributed to the negative mood among investors. Technology stocks struggled due to recent weakness in shares of Amazon and Facebook.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index weakened by 0.49 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased 0.42 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.16 percent.
The DAX of Germany dropped 0.78 percent and the CAC 40 of France fell 0.29 percent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.37 percent and the SMI of Switzerland finished lower by 1.26 percent.
Chip stocks were under pressure on reports that Apple is planning to use its own chips for its Mac devices. Infineon Technologies fell 1.93 percent, Dialog Semiconductor lost 3.06 percent and STMicroelectronics declined 3.11 percent.
In Paris, Air France-KLM sank 4.37 percent as its workers go on strike over pay dispute.
Food services group Sodexo tumbled 4.54 percent after Goldman Sachs lowered its rating on the stock.
In London, Anglo American fell 1.28 percent after announcing the suspension of its Minas-Rio iron ore operation in Brazil.
Petrofac rallied 2.60 percent on winning an EPC contract worth about $233 million from Vedanta.
UBS Group fell 1.70 percent in Zurich after proposing new members to its board.
The euro area manufacturing activity grew at the slowest pace in eight months in March, final data from IHS Markit showed Tuesday. The final manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 56.6 in March from 58.6 in February. The score came in line with flash estimate.
Germany's retail sales decreased for the third straight month in February, Destatis reported Tuesday. Retail sales fell unexpectedly by 0.7 percent month-on-month in February, bigger than the 0.3 percent decrease seen in January. This was the third consecutive decline in sales. Sales were expected to grow 0.8 percent.
The British manufacturing sector maintained a steady growth in March, but the pace of expansion for the first quarter as a whole was the weakest in a year, survey results from IHS Markit showed Tuesday. The IHS Markit/Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose slightly to 55.1 in March from 55.0 in February. The score was forecast to fall to 54.7.
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