The BEL 20 index dropped by over 5% at the opening shortly after 09:00, following US President Donald Trump’s trade offensive and initial retaliatory measures.
Several stock listings were slightly delayed until the BEL 20 showed a decline of more than 5.5%, settling at 3,857 points.
ArGEN-X (475.10), KBC (67.28), UCB (138.40), and Umicore (7.58) immediately fell by around 8%, closely followed by Syensqo (55.20), Melexis (43.24), and Ageas (49.12).
Other European stock exchanges also opened with significant declines: Amsterdam dropped 6.5%, Frankfurt saw an initial 10% drop, and Paris decreased by 6.4%.
Around 09:00, the euro stood at 1.1015 USD, compared to 1.0985 last Friday. Gold was trading at approximately €88,290, down by €790.
