World stocks sink, gold hits high on escalating trade war fears

London: World stock markets lost ground on Tuesday, while precious metals hit fresh peaks on fears of a US EU trade war fuelled by Donald Trump s tari...

London: World stock markets lost ground on Tuesday, while precious metals hit fresh peaks on fears of a US-EU trade war fuelled by Donald Trump's tariff threat over opposition to his ambitions to grab Greenland, which has stoked volatility.

Wall Street was down more than one percent two hours into the day session as traders began the week's US trading, following Monday's Martin Luther King holiday.

Europe's main markets also suffered, London closing off 0.7 percent and Frankfurt ending down 1.0 percent.

Earlier, Tokyo suffered a similar fate even though Asia overall closed mixed.

Gold, seen as a safe-haven investment, notched yet another record high, surpassing the $4,750 an ounce mark. Silver also peaked, touching $95.51 an ounce.