European markets were lower Wednesday morning, as elevated concerns of a tit-for-tat trade war between the world's biggest economies overshadowed a bounce on Wall Street.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down around 0.8 percent during mid-morning deals, with almost all sectors and major bourses in negative territory.
China announced additional tariffs on 106 U.S. products on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump unveiled charges on a list of Chinese imports. Trump revealed plans for a 25 percent tariff on some 1,300 industrial technology, transport and medical products in retaliation for what the U.S. administration alleged had been decades of state-backed intellectual property theft by Beijing.
In response, China announced a 25 percent levy on U.S. imports which includes products such as soybeans, cars and whisky.
The news prompted a flurry of European sectors to fall more than 1 percent, with technology stocks among the worst performers — down 1.7 percent. Austria Microsystems and Siltronic led the sectoral losses, both off by over 3 percent.
Looking at individual stocks, WPP was trading almost 1 percent lower after the advertising giant said it was investigating CEO Martin Sorrell over "an allegation of personal misconduct." WPP's board appointed an independent counsel to investigate Sorrell, the company told CNBC. The ongoing investigation doesn't appear to be material to the business, the company's statement said.
Elsewhere, Swiss Re said Wednesday that talks with SoftBank over a minority stake of no more than 10 percent in the reinsurance giant were continuing "at an early stage," according to a Reuters report. Shares of Swiss Re were 3 percent lower on the news.
Trade showdown
China's proposed countermeasures prompted U.S. stock index futures to tumble ahead of Wednesday's open. At around 5:15 a.m. ET, Dow futures sank 419 points, indicating a drop of 438.36 points at the open. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 futures also indicated heavy losses at the open for their respective markets.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei edged 0.1 percent higher while South Korea's index eased 0.2 percent as investors remained cautious. Wall Street had rallied in the previous session as investors looked forward to what is expected to be a robust earnings season.
