BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - German stocks shrugged off a weak start and moved higher on Thursday with automobile, healthcare and industrials sectors attracting buyers. Despite lingering uncertainty about a U.S.-Iran peace deal and data showing a contraction in German private sector activity, the mood has turned positive thanks to weak oil prices.
Strong earnings from Nvidia aided sentiment to some extent.
As Iran reviews a new U.S. proposal to resolve the Middle East conflict, U.S. President Donald Trump said that negotiations could yield a deal within days or collapse into renewed strikes.
The benchmark DAX, which slid to 24,606.00 earlier in the session, was up 122.22 points or 0.49% at 24,854.50 a few minutes past noon.
Merck climbed nearly 3%. Zalando, Infineon Technologies, Adidas and Symrise gained 2.1%-2.8%.
Porsche Automobil Holding gained 1.8%. Qiagen, Volkswagen, MTU Aero Engines, Siemens Healthineers, BMW, BASF, Continental, Deutsche Boerse, Fresenius Medical Care and Daimler Truck Holding moved up 1%-1.7%.
Commerzbank fell 2.5% and Brenntag dropped 2.3%, while Siemens Energy, RWE and SAP posted modest losses.
Bayer regained some lost ground after earlier setback. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted priority review to its supplemental New Drug Application for Kerendia.
In economic news, Germany's private sector contracted in May amid a backdrop of weakening demand and high inflationary pressures, flash survey data from S&P Global showed.
The flash composite output index fell to 48.6 in May from 48.4 in April. Economists had forecast the index to remain unchanged at 48.4.
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