ISTANBUL
European stock markets ended Thursday with losses except for Britain as the newly announced trade deal between the US and China provided less-than-expected relief for investors regarding high tariffs.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 dropped 0.33%, or 1.8 points, to close at 549.84.
Germany's DAX 40 index was down 0.74% to end at 23,771.45 points, and France's CAC 40 fell 0.14% to close at 7,765.11 points.
Italy's FTSE MIB 30 index dropped slightly, 0.58%, to 39,948.39 points.
Britain’s FTSE 100 index bucked the trend, rising 0.23% to 8,884.92 points.
A trade deal between Washington and Beijing “is done,” subject to final approval with the presidents of the two countries, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday.
In a social media post, he said the US “is getting a total of 55% tariffs, China is getting 10%.”
"Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China," he said. "Likewise, we will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities (which has always been good with me!)."
Separately, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC on Wednesday that tariffs on China won't change again.
Lutnick said the 55% tariff rate Trump announced will include a 20% tariff on fentanyl, a 10% reciprocal tariff, and a 25% tariff rate from the president's first term.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that China needs to be a reliable partner in the trade negotiations.
"China has a singular opportunity to stabilize its economy by shifting away from excess production towards greater consumption," Bessent said at the House Ways and Means Committee.
He stressed that a "big, beautiful" rebalancing of the US and China is possible if China addresses its responsibilities under the original trade agreement that the two parties reached in Geneva last month.
US and Chinese officials met in London this week to discuss the tariff issue.
In April, the US began to implement huge tariffs on China, but in May, the US and China agreed to a broad rollback of punitive tariffs for an initial 90 days.
On the macroeconomic data side, the euro/US dollar exchange rate rose to around 1.16 on Thursday, hitting its highest level since April 22.
The UK economy contracted by 0.3% in April, prompting economists to revise their expectations for interest rate cuts, now seen as more likely in August or November rather than at next week’s Bank of England (BoE) meeting.
According to the UK’s Office for National Statistics, one of the major drivers of the contraction was a record decline in exports to the US.