European stocks slip on Monday as Trump tariff worry weighs

European stock markets tumbled on Monday as uncertainty reigned ahead of the expected unveiling of a raft of new tariffs by Donald Trump this week.

The FTSE 100 index ended down 76.04 points, 0.9%, at 8,582.81. The FTSE 250 slumped 389.50 points, 2.0%, at 19,475.48, and the AIM All-Share lost 14.63 points, 2.1%, at 681.99.

The Cboe UK 100 fell 0.9% at 855.63 on Monday, the Cboe UK 250 shed 2.2% at 16,961.96, and the Cboe Small Companies ended 1.6% lower at 15,161.52.

In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended down 1.6%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt fell 1.3%.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1%, the S&P 500 was 0.6% lower and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.5%.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB said there is an "air of capitulation" in financial markets ahead of the tariff announcement.

"Reciprocal tariff fears are infecting the whole stock market, even defensive sectors like energy and utilities are lower at the start of the week, which is a sign that investors are cutting their positions sharply and choosing to pause ahead of this week’s tariff announcements," she stated.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump is expected to impose levies on any country the White House deems to have an unfair trading relationship with the US.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer held what Downing Street called "productive" trade negotiations with Trump on Sunday, as he seeks to avert punitive tariffs on British exports.

But Whitehall officials have cautioned that Britain may well be hit by the threatened global tariffs although they added April 2 should not be seen as the end of the process.

Ned Shearing at Capital Economics said the only certainty about 'Liberation Day' is that "everyone loses when tariffs rise".