Thursday May 8, 05:19 PM
German shares close slightly lower, narrow losses on Wall Street gains UPDATE
(updates with full report)
FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - German shares closed slightly lower, but narrowed earlier losses as a higher opening on Wall Street gave positive impetus to stocks.
The DAX was down 4.35 points
or 0.06 percent at 7,071.90, after having traded between 7,013.06 and 7,073.45.
The MDAX gained 33.74 points or 0.35 percent to 9,666.53, while the TecDAX (Xetra: news) dropped 0.46 points or 0.05 percent to 846.45.
DAX (Xetra: news) futures were 62.00 points or 0.88 percent higher at 7,110.00, while bund futures rose 0.66 points or 0.58 percent to 114.51.
The euro was trading at $1.5402 compared with $1.5424 in London afternoon trade.
Trader Stefan Soellner from Deutsche Postbank (Xetra: 800100 - news) pointed out that in light of record high oil prices and problems in the financial sector, the DAX is holding up remarkably well.
Earlier, the European Central Bank said it decided to leave its leading interest rates unchanged at the Governing Council meeting in Athens. The move had largely been expected by economists.
In comments after the decision, ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet said the body continued to be worried about inflation rates, which have risen significantly since the autumn, due largely to higher energy and food prices.
Leading German blue chips lower, TUI (Xetra: TUAG00 - news) fell 1.04 euros or 5.57 percent to 17.63, after Exane BNP downgraded its stance to 'neutral' from 'outperform'.
Munich Re decreased 3.19 euros or 2.56 percent to 121.45, as dealers said its first-quarter numbers, which included a drop in net profit, were at best unimpressive.
Lufthansa (Xetra: 823212 - news) retreated 0.33 euros or 1.91 percent to 16.97, hurt by rising oil prices, while Henkel (Xetra: 604840 - news) shed 0.45 euros or 1.51 percent to 29.30, reversing yesterday's gains.
Commerzbank (Xetra: 803200 - news) was down 0.31 euros or 1.31 percent at 23.36.
Bucking the negative trend, Deutsche Postbank led large caps higher, adding 1.60 euros or 2.75 percent to 59.80, with traders and analysts saying its first-quarter numbers were in line or slightly better than expectations.
ThyssenKrupp (Xetra: 750000 - news) gained 1.10 euros or 2.52 percent to 44.70, which traders largely attributed to technical trade reasons.
Deutsche Telekom (Xetra: 555750 - news) jumped 0.23 euros or 2.00 percent to 11.75, after the telecom giant posted first-quarter figures that were largely in line with expectations.
Adidas (Xetra: 500340 - news) increased 0.71 euros or 1.64 percent to 44.02, after Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - news) raised its rating on Adidas to 'neutral' from 'sell' and raised its price target to 41.5 euros per share from 39 euros, on the back of strong first-quarter results the company posted on Tuesday.
Bayer (Xetra: 575200 - news) was up 0.88 euros or 1.59 percent at 56.25.
Over on the MDAX (Xetra: news) , Tognum (Xetra: A0N4P4 - news) plunged 1.81 euros or 9.31 percent to 17.64, after reporting disappointing quarterly numbers and after UBS (Virt-X: UBSN.VX - news) downgraded the company to 'neutral' from 'buy'.
At the other end, Hugo Boss (Xetra: 524550 - news) soared 4.04 euros or 11.04 percent to 40.65, after the company confirmed its full-year guidance at Thursday's annual general meeting.
TecDAX-listed Aixtron (Xetra: 506620 - news) was the worst performer, losing 1.16 euros or 11.26 percent to 9.14, after the company reported a strong drop in sales in its first quarter report.
Ersol Solar, at the other end, gained 1.94 euros or 2.91 percent to 68.66.
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