US-China trade friction sends European shares lower

European shares lost further ground on Wednesday, with trade-sensitive sectors taking a hit after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to raise U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods if a deal could not be reached with Beijing.

Trade-reliant shares of Germany and France dropped about 0.7% by 0819 GMT, leading declines among major regional indexes, while the broader European STOXX 600 index fell 0.5%.

Trump's latest threat raised fears of an impasse in the U.S.-China trade negotiations, driving Europe's stocks benchmark lower for a third straight session and farther from a four-year peak.

British home improvement retailer Kingfisher's shares tumbled 7.7% to the bottom of STOXX 600 after it reported a worsening fall in underlying sales in the third quarter.

Another big decliner was German payments company Wirecard , which fell 5.6% on news auditor EY refused to sign off on the Singapore audit of the company for 2017, citing irregularities.