BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - After opening on a negative note Monday morning amid concerns over an escalation in trade tensions between the U.S. and China and the Trump administration's announcement of tariffs on Mexican goods, the German stock market recovered and moved into positive territory.
Data showing a deterioration in manufacturing conditions in Germany contributed as well to the weakness in the market.
With investors largely staying cautious and refraining from making significant buying moves, gains are just modest as of now.
The benchmark DAX is up 40.22 points, or 0.34%, at 11,708.03, coming off the session's low of 11,620.64.
Infineon shares are down more than 6% after the company said it will acquire Cypress Semiconductor Corp. for an enterprise value of 9 billion euros. The price values a Cypress share at $23.85, a premium of 46% to Cypress's unaffected 30-day volume-weighted average price during the period from April 15 to May 28.
Deutsche Bank is lower by 3.2%. Continental, Daimler, RWE, BMW and Covestro are down 1 to 1.4%.
Adidas, Vonovia, Wirecard, Beiersdorf, SAP, Henkel and E.ON are up in positive territory, gaining 0.3 to 1%.
In economic news, Germany continued to endure the sharpest deterioration in manufacturing conditions.
Germany's IHS Markit/BME factory PMI slid to 44.3 in May from 44.4 a month ago. This was one of the lowest readings since mid-2012. The score matched the flash estimate.
Rates of decline in output and new orders eased, but employment fell the most in almost six-and-a-half years.
Eurozone manufacturing activity remained entrenched inside contraction territory in May, final survey data from IHS Markit showed Monday.
The factory Purchasing Managers' Index came in at 47.7 in May, in line with flash estimate, but down from 47.9 in the previous month.
The sector has shrunk over the last four successive months.
The PMI suggested that the sector will act as a drag on the wider economy in the second quarter, Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit said.
'.trade wars, slumping demand in the auto sector, Brexit and wider geopolitical uncertainty all remained commonly cited risks to the outlook, and all have the potential to derail any stabilisation of the manufacturing sector,' Williamson added.
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