European stock markets close mostly lower

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - European stock markets ended Wednesday mostly lower as US' tariffs continued to loom over the markets.

US President Donald Trump will announce new tariffs on auto imports Wednesday, the White House said.

Trump will reveal the new tariffs during a press conference in the Oval Office at 2000GMT, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

Trump on Monday had hinted that the auto tariffs could arrive prior to April 2, the day his sweeping “reciprocal tariff” plan is set to begin.

Following that, Stoxx 600's Automobiles & Parts index fell 2.5% to 551.23.

Meanwhile, the UK has halved its GDP growth forecast for this year to 1%, the Treasury chief said Wednesday.

Rachel Reeves said global instability is affecting growth across the world, and admitted that the cost of living crisis in the UK is still very real.

Reeves noted that the government "must work closely with the Bank of England" to support the independent monetary policy committee to meet its 2% inflation target.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 0.7% or 3.86 points to 548.73.

Germany's DAX 40 index declined 1.17%, or 270.76 points, to close the day at 22,839.03.

France's CAC 40 also fell 0.96%, or 77.91 points, to 8,030.68, and Italy's FTSE MIB 30 index dove 0.83% to 39,058.1 in a 326.85-point fall.

On the other hand, Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.3%— 25.79 points—to 8,689.59.