European stock markets wobbled Friday as China and the United States fired the first shots in a trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

In early afternoon deals, London stocks shed 0.2 percent while Frankfurt won 0.1 percent and Paris turned flat.

The euro rose against the dollar, while oil prices fell.

US President Donald Trump on Friday rolled out tariffs on $34 billion (29 billion euros) of Chinese goods in what Beijing called the “largest trade war” in economic history.

China added it had already imposed retaliatory measures on US goods without immediately providing precise details.

“Stocks are mixed… despite the heightened trade tensions between the US and China,” said CMC Markets UK analyst David Madden. Analysts noted that the news had been expected for weeks, leaving traders to buy back into the market.

Tokyo stocks led the gains in Asia, closing 1.1 percent higher, with markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong up by around half a percentage point.

Li Daxiao, analyst at Yingda Securities, said news of the tariffs was already priced in. “After the US tariffs announcement, the negative news finally came out and has already been digested over recent weeks. Therefore investors are not in as much of a panic as before, and the market sentiment will reverse,” said Li.

Stanley Chik, from Bright Smart Securities International in Hong Kong, said that “the impact of tariffs on economic growth appears limited for now, giving the market a breathing spell.”

But these could be just the first skirmishes in a long war, with financial markets worried about a knock-on effect on the wider global economy and the broader trading system.

Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on some $450 billion of Chinese goods — virtually all of China's exports to the US — as he seeks to advance his “America First” protectionist agenda.

Beijing has accused the US of “firing on the whole world” with the measures, pointing out that most of the Chinese goods under attack are made by companies with large foreign investment — including American.

In New York, traders returned Thursday from the July 4 Independence Day holiday in a relatively bullish mood, pushing the Dow Jones index up nearly one percent as they cheered solid US employment data.

– Key figures around 11:15 GMT

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,583.43 points

Frankfurt – DAX 30: UP 0.1 percent at 12,472.14

Paris – CAC 40: FLAT at 5,364.34

EURO STOXX 50: FLAT at 3,440.54

Hong Kong – Hang Seng: UP 0.5 percent at 28,315.62 (close)

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.1 percent at 21,788.14 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 2,747.23 (close)

New York – Dow: UP 0.8 percent at 24,356.74 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1713 from $1.1691 at 2100 GMT Thursday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3238 from $1.3222

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 110.62 yen from 110.64 yen

Oil – Brent Crude: DOWN 54 cents at $76.85 per barrel

Oil – West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 20 cents at $72.74

(AFP/APP)

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