DAX Down 2.2% As Stocks Extend Recent Plunge

(RTTNews) - After suffering its worst setback in about eight months on Thursday, the German market is deep down in negative territory again with stocks reeling under a fresh bout of selling pressure on Friday amid concerns about growth following U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff moves.

Disappointing factory orders data and construction sector report, as well a drop in new car registrations are also hurting sentiment.

The benchmark DAX was down 476.75 points or 2.2% at 21,223.61 a little while ago.

Deutsche Bank is declining 7.8%. Commerzbank is down nearly 5%. Infineon Technologies, MTU Aero Engines, Allianz, Daimler Truck Holding and Heidelberg Materials are down 3 to 4.2%.

Deutsche Post is down nearly 3%. Deutsche Telekom, Siemens, Continental, BASF, Adidas, Hannover Rueck, Fresenius Medical Care and Brenntag are lower by 2 to 2.7%.

Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Fresenius, Deutsche Boerse, BMW, Siemens Energy and Merck are also notably lower.

Gerresheimer is down more than 14% after reports said KKR has abandoned a private equity consortium discussing a takeover of the German speciality packaging company.

Beiersdorf is gaining about 3.1% and Symrise is up 3%. Vonovia is rising nearly 2%, while Qiagen, Porsche and Sartorius are up with moderate gains.

Data from Destatis said Germany factory orders stagnated unexpectedly in February even though US importers brought forward imports to beat the impending tariffs.

New orders in the manufacturing sector remained unchanged in February, reversing a 5.5% drop in January, the data said. Orders were forecast to grow 3.4%. Excluding large orders, new orders were 0.2% lower than in the previous month.

Germany's construction sector deteriorated at a faster pace at the end of the first quarter amid weaker order inflows, survey results from S&P Global showed. The HCOB construction Purchasing Managers' Index registered 40.3 in March, down from 41.2 in February.

New car registrations in Germany fell 3.9% year-on-year to 253,497 units in March, marking the fifth consecutive period of decline.