European shares fall as Trump's anti-Powell tirade adds to uncertainty
Business
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.7% as of 0709 GMT
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – European shares fell on Tuesday as heavyweight Novo Nordisk slumped, while US President Donald Trump's vocal attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell shook investor confidence which is already fragile due to concerns over the trade war.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.7% as of 0709 GMT.
Although shares fell at the opening, the market did not start as weak as might have been expected, ICF Bank trader Arthur Brunner said.
"The figures from the US, down 2.5%, were of course a burden. We are starting here with a half-percentage point loss, and it seems that people here are not as pessimistic about the European markets as they are in the US," Brunner said.
Concerns over US tariffs also kept investors on the edge as they returned from the Easter long weekend.
The week began on a dour note after Trump repeated his criticism of Powell to pressure the central bank into cutting interest rates quickly, raising concerns about its independence and igniting a sharp selloff on Wall Street on Monday.
