European stocks end week slightly higher as Trump says China violated trade deal

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA)— European stock markets ended Friday narrowly in the green after US President Donald Trump said China "totally violated" the preliminary trade agreement announced earlier this month.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 0.14%, or 0.79 points, to close the week at 548.67.

Germany's DAX 40 was up 0.27% to close at 23,997.48 points, and the UK's FTSE 100 climbed 0.64% to 8,772.38 points.

Italy's FTSE MIB 30 index also gained 0.26% to 40,087.4 points.

On the other hand, France's CAC 40 dropped 0.36% to close at 7,751.89.

The stocks had risen earlier in the day, but after Trump accused China of breaching the trade deal, possibly plunging the world economy back into a state of uncertainty after a sigh of relief from the deal in Geneva, the gains were mostly lost.

"So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!" said Trump about China in a social media post.

Trump also reiterated his belief that the Chinese economy is in "grave economic danger" due to the tariffs he imposed, saying many factories closed and there was "civil unrest" in the country.

On the macroeconomic data side, Germany's annual inflation was at a more-than-expected rate of 2.1% in May.