Dark clouds hung over Europe’s stock markets as a series of catastrophic declines rippled through the financial landscape. The infamous Stoxx 600 index, which tracks the region’s corporate giants, plummeted to its lowest point in 16 months, a harbinger of the chaos unleashed by President Donald Trump’s new tariffs. The market trembled, caught in the wake of an economic storm set off by Trump’s reckless trade decisions.
The carnage began Monday morning as Europe’s stock markets continued their downward spiral, following the devastating selloff in Asia. The Stoxx 600 sank more than 6%, its steepest drop since December 2023, while Germany’s DAX spiraled into a dizzying 10% fall. France’s CAC 40 was not spared, tumbling 6.6%, and Italy’s FTSE MIB dropped 5.7%. The damage was all-consuming, an undeniable descent into darkness.
In London, the FTSE 100 index suffered a 6% dive, marking its worst day since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. A chilling silence gripped the market as every single stock in the index bled red, no survivor in sight.
Defense firms and banks bore the brunt of the fallout. Rheinmetall, the German arms maker, saw its shares crash by nearly 24%. Rolls-Royce, the British engineering giant, plummeted by 12%. Mining and investment companies, the pillars of European wealth, crumbled under the pressure.
The devastation was far from contained. The shockwaves from Trump’s April 2 announcement of a 10% baseline tariff on all imports reverberated across the globe, igniting a chain reaction of retaliation. China, with eyes full of fury, retaliated with a brutal 34% tariff on US goods. Other nations, emboldened by their anger, vowed to strike back, setting the stage for a financial apocalypse. The European Union, facing a 20% tariff under Trump’s decree, was left with no choice but to prepare for a bitter confrontation. EU President Ursula von der Leyen, her voice cold with resolve, warned that if talks with Washington failed, the bloc would strike back in unison—an ominous promise of further conflict.
Trump, ever defiant, defended his tariffs on Sunday, claiming they were necessary to resolve trade deficits with China, the EU, and others. But in the darkened corridors of global finance, his words rang hollow, only deepening the sense of impending disaster.
Market watchers, eyes wide with fear, warned of a prolonged period of instability. The financial world was on edge, uncertain whether Trump would relent or continue this dangerous path. The ominous uncertainty hung like a shroud over investors, their futures hanging by a thread.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, captured the unease in a chilling message: “This market is looking for concrete action, not talk of action. The best panacea for financial markets right now would be a pause or reversal from the US on its tariff program.”
But as the weekend unfolded, contradictions from US officials only deepened the fear. UBS Global Wealth Management chief economist Paul Donovan observed, “If the competence of policymaking is questioned, markets will worry that economic damage will be lasting.” The cracks in the US administration’s strategy were wide open, and with them, the terrifying specter of a global economic collapse loomed closer.
Across the Pacific, Asia was no sanctuary. Japan’s Nikkei 225 hit its lowest point since October 2023. In China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Australia, the markets bled red, trapped in the chaos sweeping across the globe. US futures pointed toward more losses, predicting a deepening crisis as the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq suffered their worst results since the pandemic crash of 2020.
A dark future looms as the world teeters on the edge of an economic abyss, where the fallout from Trump’s tariffs may only be the beginning of a financial nightmare.
