BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European markets ended sharply lower on Thursday with investors pressing sales in shares from across several sectors amid growing worries about a long drawn trade war between the U.S. and China.
Falling crude oil prices, weak eurozone economy and Brexit uncertainty all added to the pressure.
The pan European Stoxx 600 tumbled 1.42%. Among the major indices, the U.K.'s FTSE ended 1.41% down, Germany's DAX shed 1.7n8% and France's CAC 40 lost 1.81%, while Switzerland's SMI ended lower by 0.53%.
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden ended with sharp to moderate losses.
In the UK market, TUI, Antofagasta, Ferguson, Prudential, Morrison Supermarkets, Ashtead Group, DCC, Rolls Royce and DS Smith declined by 3 to 5%.
BP, Glencore, Royal Dutch Shell, Barclays, 3i Group, Rio Tinto, Standard Chartered and J Sainsbury also declined sharply.
Royal Mail plunged sharply and hit a record low on reports the privatized U.K. postal service could be renationalized.
Astrazeneca and IAG bucked the trend and ended stronger by 1.4% and 1.3%, respectively.
In Germany, Daimler ended lower by 6.75%. Thyssenkrupp, Infineon Technologies, Bayer, Continental, Wirecard, Deutsche Bank, Siemens, BASF, Deutsche Post and SAP shed 2 to 5%.
In France, STMicroElectronics, ArcelorMittal, Technip, Vivendi, Kering, Safran, Total, Capgemini, Atos and Valeo lost 3 to 5%.
Credit Agricole, Airbus, Publicis Groupe, Engie, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale also ended with sharp losses.
The British pound was struggling near four-month lows after a key ally resigned from May's cabinet late on Wednesday, adding to pressure on the Prime Minister to step down.
In economic news from Europe, the euro area private sector expanded in May, albeit at a subdued pace. The composite output index rose marginally to 51.6 in May from 51.5 in April. The score was forecast to rise to 51.7.
Germany's GDP grew 0.4% sequentially in the first quarter, a report from Destatis showed.
The German headline IFO business climate index dropped to 97.9 in May from 99.2 last month.
The minutes of the European Central Bank's policy meeting in April showed European Central Bank policymakers acknowledged that they were less confident regarding a return of solid growth in the euro area in the second half of the year.
While the more protracted 'soft patch' suggested by the latest data remained consistent with this baseline scenario, 'it was acknowledged that there was now somewhat less confidence in this baseline scenario and that the range of other possible outcomes had widened,' the minutes, which the ECB calls 'account', said.
'More information would need to be gathered in the run-up to the Governing Council's June monetary policy meeting, when new Eurosystem staff projections would become available.'
On the trade front, Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said in a briefing that the Trump administration must 'show sincerity and correct their wrong actions' if the U.S. wants trade talks to continue.
'Negotiations can only continue on the basis of equality and mutual respect,' Gao said, noting that China is closely monitoring developments and preparing a necessary response.
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