Europe close: Report of imminent US car tariffs hits shares

(Sharecast News) - European shares were lower on Wednesday amid ongoing uncertainty and nervousness around the expected 2 April date for Washington's announcement of reciprocal trade tariffs. Against that backdrop, Bloomberg reported that an announcement on auto tariffs might occur later on Wednesday.

It followed a report with roughly the opposite implications the day before.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index ended 0.70% lower at 548.73 - near the session lows.

Germany's DAX was down by 1.17% at 22,839.03, while France's Cac-40 ended down by 0.96% to 8,030.68%.

The Stoxx 600 sector gauge for Autos&Parts finished 1.28% in the red at 551.23.

In equity news, CD Projekt fell 8% as the game developer on Tuesday said the release date for the first part of its 'Witcher IV' trilogy would be after 2026.

Ocado surged 16% after JPMorgan Cazenove upgraded the shares to 'overweight' from 'neutral' and lifted the price target to 400p from 340p.