BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - German stocks started the year on a sour note as weak manufacturing data from China added to investor concerns over slowing global growth.
Lingering worries surrounding the U.S.-China trade conflict and the U.S government shutdown also kept investors nervous.
The benchmark DAX was down 164 points or 1.55 percent at 10,396 in opening deals as trading resumed after a long holiday weekend.
Automakers paced the declines, with BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen all falling around 3 percent.
In economic releases, German employment grew to a record high in 2018 despite a slowdown in the economy, preliminary figures from the Federal Statistical Office showed.
The number of employed grew by 562,000 persons or 1.3 percent to an annual average 44.8 million.
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