German Stocks Fall 0.41% As Energy, Tech Drag Despite GDP Surprise

(RTTNews) - After four successive days of gains, Germany's benchmark index DAX shed some ground Friday morning, weighed down by higher oil prices and weakness in the tech sector following disappointing earnings updates from Amazon and Intel.

Investors also reacted to the latest batch of economic data, including reports on import prices and flash GDP reading.

Brent crude front-month futures rose to $114.07 a barrel before dropping to around $112.60, still up as much as 1.6% from previous close.

The DAX was down 108.05 points or 0.41% at 25,931.63 a little while ago.

Siemens Energy dropped more than 5%. Infineon Technologies drifted down 3.4%. Hochtief shed about 2.1%.

Fresenius Medical Care, Deutsche Bank, Siemens and Rheinmetall lost 1%-1.7%, while RWE and Commerzbank declined by 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively.

Shares of sportswear maker Puma soared 7.5% after gross margins improved in the third quarter. For the three-month period, the company posted a net loss of EUR 54.9 million, or EUR 0.37 per share, less than a net loss of EUR 62.3 million, or EUR 0.42 per share in the same period last year.

Bayer moved up 4.2%. Beiersdorf climbed 2.6% and Scout24 gained 2.5%. Hannover RE, Henkel, SAP, Symrise, Munich RE, Deutsche Boerse, Vonovia, Fresenius, Zalando, BMW, Deutsche Telekom and Merck gained 1%-2%.

Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Adidas, Siemens Healthineers, GEA Group and Brenntag posted moderate gains.

Flash data from Destatis revealed the German economy expanded more than expected in the third quarter, with Gross National Product growing 0.2% from a quarter ago, compared to the 0.3% expansion posted in the second quarter. Economists had forecast a quarterly growth of 0.1%.

On a yearly basis, calendar-adjusted GDP logged an annual growth of 1.2% after rising 1% in the preceding period. GDP was forecast to grow 1.1%.

Germany's import prices surged 10.4% year-on-year in September, accelerating from 8.3% in the previous month and exceeding market expectations of 10.3%. It was the highest level since November 2022. On a monthly basis, import prices rose by 2.1%, following a 1% gain in August and beating forecasts of 1.8%, marking the highest reading since March.

Germany's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.4% in October, in line with market expectations and holding at its highest level since 2020.