By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

Zalando slumps, Clariant, Volkswagen push higher

Europe's main stock gauge struggled on Tuesday, dogged by a deepening U.S.-China trade spat. German retailer Zalando SE was the worst performer, while Swiss chemicals firm Clariant AG SA rallied.

What are markets doing?

The Stoxx Europe 600 was barely above the flat line at 378.18, after Monday's tiny gain of 0.1% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hm-a-bright-spot-for-europe-stocks-as-dax-struggles-2018-09-17).

Germany's DAX 30 edged up 0.2% to 12,120.49, while France's CAC 40 added 0.3% to 5,362.48. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 was flat at 7,301.70.

The euro was changing hands at $1.1692 from $1.1685 late Monday in New York, while the pound slipped to $1.3135 from $1.3156.

Read:Dollar finds footing as U.S.-China trade fight intensifies (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-finds-footing-as-us-china-trade-fight-intensifies-2018-09-18)

What is driving the market?

Traders were distracted by fresh trade tensions after U.S. President Donald Trump said late Monday he will impose another 10% tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports (President%20Trump%20has%20imposed%20an%20additional%20+10%%20tariffs%20on%20about%20+$200B%20worth%20of%20imports%20from%20China,%20rising%20to%20+25%%20by%20the%20turn%20of%20the%20New%20Year.) to take effect next week, with that percentage due to double by 2019. Investors were keeping an eye out for any retaliation by China.

U.S. stock futures (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-futures-edge-up-but-trade-uncertainty-remains-in-focus-2018-09-18) pointed to a bounce for Tuesday, from a trade-tensions-induced selloff on Monday. Issues surrounding trade have been lingering for months around markets. The S&P 500 index is still up 8% year-to-date, while the Stoxx Europe 600 has lagged behind with a 2.8% decline in the same period.

Stock movers

Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE) jumped 2.5%. The auto maker announced Monday (https://www.euronews.com/2018/09/17/volkswagen-group-plans-to-build-10-million-e-cars-in-first-wave) that it will build 10 million electric cars based on its modular electrification platform. Those shares shook off news that the EU's antitrust body has opened a formal probe into "possible collusion" (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/german-car-makers-probed-for-possible-collusion-2018-09-18) over emissions among big German auto makers big car makers--BMW AG (BMW.XE), Daimler (DAI.XE), Volkswagen and its Audi AG (NSU.XE) unit.

BMW and Daimler were little changed, while Audi was off 0.5%.

Clariant (CLN.EB) shot up nearly 8% after the chemicals maker upgraded guidance and said it had reached agreement (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/clariant-jumps-on-guidance-raise-sabic-agreement-2018-09-18) with Saudi Basic Industries Corp. to buy a quarter of the company.

Zalando (ZAL.XE) sank 12% after the German online retailer cut its 2018 outlook for the second time since August (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/zalando-plunges-after-company-cuts-guidance-again-2018-09-18).

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 18, 2018 09:22 ET (13:22 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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