International stock markets have fallen in reaction to a new wave of U.S. import tariffs aimed at protecting domestic industries and addressing long-standing trade imbalances.
European stocks dropped to a three-week low. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell by about 3 percent on Friday, extending its weekly decline to almost 3.5 percent. It constitutes the biggest drop since the announcement of U.S. reciprocal tariffs by executive order on April 2.
Germany’s benchmark stock market index, the DAX Index, fell by more than 2.5 percent, while the FTSE 100 Index fell by just over 1 percent.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares excluding Japan, a widely tracked benchmark used by global investors to gauge regional equity performance, dropped by 1.5 percent, extending its weekly decline to around 2.7 percent….