BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - German stocks are notably lower Wednesday morning, as uncertainty about a potential U.S.-China trade deal weighed on sentiment and forced investors to indulge in some selling.
The U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened higher tariffs on Chinese goods if a trade deal is not reached between the two countries.
The ongoing protests in Hong Kong weighed as well on sentiment.
Germany's benchmark DAX is down 143.60 points, or 1.1%, at 13,077.52.
On Tuesday, the index ended with a gain of 0.22%.
Wirecard shares are plunging nearly 6% after Ernest Young auditors refused to certify the 2017 annual balance sheet of Wirecard's Singapore subsidiary.
Deutsche Bank shares are down more than 2%. Continental, Infineon, Fresenius, Bayer, Covestro, Lufthansa, BASF, BMW, Volkswagen and HeidelbergCement are declining 1 to 1.7%.
Midcap stocks Commerzbank, Thyssenkrupp, Leoni AG, Siltronic and Fuchs Perolub tumbled 2 to 7%.
On the economic front, Germany producer prices declined for the second straight month in October largely driven by energy prices, data from Destatis showed.
Producer prices fell by 0.6% year-on-year in October, bigger than the 0.1% drop in September. This was the second straight decrease. Economists had forecast an annual 0.4% fall.
On a monthly basis, producer prices dropped 0.2%, in contrast to a 0.1% increase in September. Prices were forecast to rise 0.1 percent.
Excluding energy, producer prices gained 0.3% on month but declined 0.2% from the same period last year. Energy prices decreased 3.1% annually.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX