European stock markets opened in the red on Tuesday despite a Wall Street rally on Monday, when US President Donald Trump offered reassurances about Washington’s relationship with Beijing.

Despite the president's remarks, investor sentiment remains shaky as the world's two largest economies butt heads over trade disputes.

Both nations will place fees on each other's ships on Tuesday, following a US investigation into China’s growing dominance in world shipbuilding. Washington will impose a fee of $50 per tonne (€43.27) of cargo on Chinese vessels in American ports, while China will charge 400 yuan (€48.65) per tonne, a levy that will steadily increase.

Also on Tuesday, Beijing imposed sanctions on five US-linked subsidiaries of the South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean as it seeks to assert its maritime dominance.

While the status of trade talks between China and the US remains unclear, Trump said he still may meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this month on the sidelines of a regional summit.

Over the weekend, US President Donald Trump first threatened China with 100% tariffs, before stating in a social media post: "Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine! Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment. He doesn’t want Depression for his country, and neither do I. The USA wants to help China, not hurt it!!!"

Aside from US-China trade tensions, investors in Europe also remain cautious as the new French government, led by Sébastien Lecornu, will address parliament at 15:00 CEST. Lecornu will seek to bring political stability to France by passing a budget to tackle the nation's heavy deficit.

Meanwhile, in the UK, a rise in unemployment, up to 4.8% in the three months to August, is fuelling concerns about the health of the UK economy.

Just before midday in Europe, the FTSE 100 in London was down 0.38% at 9,406.64, the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.76% to 7,874.20, and the DAX in Frankfurt lost 0.87%, coming to 24,176.42.

Just after midday, the European benchmark STOXX 600 was down 0.71% and the IBEX 35 in Madrid was down 0.2% at 15,511.00.

Across the Atlantic, S&P 500 futures were down 0.94%, while Nasdaq futures fell 1.23%.

The euro and the British pound weakened against the US dollar, while the Japanese yen notched up against the greenback.

Oil prices, meanwhile, tumbled. US benchmark crude fell more than 2% to $58.25, while international benchmark Brent slipped just below $62, losing around 2%.

Gold and silver prices skyrocketed as investors looked to safe-haven assets, with gold prices reaching $4,156.80, up by 0.58%. Silver futures hit a historic high above $52, before slipping to around $50.

Cryptocurrencies are losing ground sharply. Before noon in Europe, the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX) was down by 3.5% at $111,801, and Ethereum lost more than 6.4% as it traded at $4,006.49.

Global market sentiment is clouded by fears of an AI bubble set to burst, as the valuations of tech companies have soared over the past months.

Critics say the US market now looks too expensive after prices rose much faster than corporate profits. Worries about a repeat of the 2000 dot-com bubble are raising the stakes for the upcoming earnings reporting season. JPMorgan Chase, Johnson & Johnson and United Airlines are some of the big names giving financial updates this week.