Trump also has Europe in sight and that pushes the stock markets into red

The Stoxx Europe 600 – a broad European stock basket – was 1.5 percent lower at opening. Especially shares of car producers lose ground. In Paris, Autogroep Stellantis loses more than 6 percent. The German car group Volkswagen also loses more than 6 percent, while Mercedes drops 5 percent. The Bel20 is more than 1.3 percent lower. All shares in the Brussels star index are in red.

The new American President Donald Trump is going to raise import duties on products from Canada, Mexico and China. He has shown several times that he is also planning to do that on European products. Investors fear an escalating trade war, which would mean bad news for the companies, their profits and therefore the shareholders.