BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - German stocks edged lower on Thursday as Europe faces a third wave of the coronavirus along with new lockdowns in several countries.
Germany reported its highest number of new coronavirus infections since mid-January, threatening the government's plans to ease lockdown restrictions.
Heightened government scrutiny over China's powerful technology companies also dented sentiment.
The benchmark DAX was down 12 points at 14,598 after declining 0.4 percent in the previous session.
Sportswear firm Adidas fell nearly 3 percent amid backlash in China against global brands for refusing to buy Xinjiang cotton.
Internet services company United Internet gave up 2.3 percent after its EBITDA for the fourth-quarter dropped to 152.5 million euros from 321.7 million euros in the previous year.
Siemens Healthineers AG fell over 2 percent. The healthcare firm has decided to increase its share capital through a partial utilization of its authorized capital under the exclusion of shareholders' subscription rights to 1.13 billion euros from 1.08 billion euros.
In economic releases, German consumer sentiment is set to improve in April after the easing of the hard lockdown and falling infection rates at the time of the survey, data from market research group GfK showed.
The forward-looking consumer sentiment index rose to -6.2 in April from revised -12.7 in March. The reading was forecast to climb to -11.9.
With infection rates rising again and the lockdown expected to be tightened again, it is questionable whether the improvement in consumer confidence will continue, Gfk observed.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2021 AFX News
