Europe markets close lower; autos stocks fall 1.7% as investors digest Trump tariff threats

This is CNBC's live blog covering European markets.

European stocks closed lower Tuesday as investors assessed the implications of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's plans to hike tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada.

The regional Stoxx 600 provisionally ended down 0.5%, with major bourses and most sectors in negative territory. Autos stocks fell 1.7% amid fears of a global trade war rocking the industry, with Stellantis, parent company of Jeep and Dodge, down nearly 5%.

Media stocks and household goods, meanwhile, were among the outliers in the green, both adding around 0.3%.

The index had ended higher for a third straight session on Monday, as global momentum in equities lifted Wall Street's Dow Jones Industrial Average to a new record.

Trump on Monday said one of his first acts in office would be to impose an additional 10% tariff on all Chinese goods entering the U.S., and threatened a 25% tariff on products from Mexico and Canada, ending a regional free trade agreement.

Economists have previously flagged the potential inflationary impact of Trump's fiscal plan, which could see the Federal Reserve cut interest rates at a slower pace. That in turn could boost the U.S. dollar against currencies such as the euro and sterling.

"Immediate market reaction looks negative," analysts at Maybank said in a note Tuesday.

"However, these tariffs do differ quite a bit from what Trump had mentioned during his campaign of 60% for China and a 10% broad tariff for the rest of the world. Whilst the market [is] maybe cautious of the risk that Trump maybe incrementally introducing the tariffs, we do note the possibility that the final imposition may not be quite the same as what was proposed by him."

Europe was quiet on the data and earnings