DAX Down Over 0.8% On Trade Tensions, Weak Inflation Data

(RTTNews) - German stocks are down in negative territory on Tuesday, weighed down by uncertainty about U.S.-China trade relations, and data showing an increase in German consumer price inflation. Investors are also looking ahead to key earnings announcements from big name U.S. banks.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he still expects Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will meet but warned that all options remain open for retaliating against China's move to tighten exports of rare earths.

China's commerce ministry said it remained open to talks, but the U.S. cannot seek dialogue while threatening new measures.

Also, Beijing reportedly said it was Washington's expansion of curbs on Chinese firms in late September that ratcheted up tensions and drove it to further tighten its grip on the critical minerals.

The benchmark DAX was down 203.32 points or 0.84% at 24,171.96 a little while ago.

Siemens Energy is down by about 4.5%, and Continental is down 4.1%. Rheinmetall and Siemens are down 3.4% and 3.1%, respectively.

MTU Aero Engines is declining 1.7%, while Brenntag, GEA Group, BASF, Infineon Technologies, Siemens Healthineers, Merck and Deutsche Bank are down 0.8 to 1.2%.

Zalando is rising nearly 3%. Volkswagen and Vonovia are gaining 1.7% each. Deutsche Telekom is up more than 1% after announcing a major collaboration with Comcast Technology Solutions.

Beiersdorf and Fresenius are also up more than 1%. Heidelberg Materials, E.ON, Qiagen and Porsche Automobil Holding are up with modest gains.

Final data from Destatis showed Germany's consumer price inflation rose for the second consecutive month in September, climbing 2.4% year-on-year following a 2.2% increase in August.

Headline inflation was the strongest since December, when it reached 2.6%.

Inflation, based on the EU measure of harmonized index of consumer prices or HICP, accelerated sharply to 2.4%, as estimated, from 2.1% in August. The HICP inflation was the highest since February, when it was 2.6%.

Core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, climbed to 2.8% from 2.7%.

Both the CPI and HICP rose 0.2% month-on-month in September after rising 0.1% each in August, matching the initial estimates.