Europe open: Stocks partially rebound after tariff-related sell-off

(Sharecast News) - European stocks rebounded slightly on Monday morning, bouncing back after a dramatic sell-off late on Friday owing to renewed trade tensions between the US and China.

Markets across Europe and the US were sent tumbling the previous session after president Donald Trump said he would hike tariffs and impose export restrictions on China, calling off a scheduled meeting with counterpart Xi Jinping following China's newly announced export controls on rare-earth materials.

However, sentiment was recovering on Monday after Trump attempted to ease concerns at the weekend. "Don't worry about China, it will all be fine!", the president said in a social media post, adding: "[Xi] doesn't want Depression for his country, and neither do I. The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!"

The Stoxx 600 index, which fell 1.3% on Friday, was up 0.5% at 567.12 by 0951 CEST, with moderate gains recorded across the continent, while US stock futures were heading higher after the S&P 500's worst daily loss (-2.7%) in six months..

"The President's propensity to shoot from the hip unsettles the investment environment, even though some are already speculating that the TACO trade is alive and well," said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor. "His subsequent comments on social media over the weekend were decidedly more conciliatory, and at this very early stage, Dow futures are pointing to a brisk recovery which would lessen the blow of Friday's bruising session."

On this side of the Pond, the euro neared a two-month low against the US dollar as political uncertainty in France continued to hit the single currency. Prime minister Sebastien Lecornu, who was reappointed on Friday after having quit just days before, is expected to present a draft budget bill to cabinet and parliament on Monday.

No major economic data was scheduled for release across Europe, though Chinese trade figures were in focus after September's annual growth in both exports (+8.3%) and imports (+7.4%) comfortably topped analysts' expectations.

In equity news, Big Yellow Group surged 16% in London as it confirmed that private equity firm Blackstone is considering a possible offer for the self-storage company.

French cable and optical fibre company Nexans dropped 8% after an abrupt change of leadership, replacing its CEO without giving a specific reason. The firm said it made the move to "create a new momentum to further optimise performance" .