Germany's DAX stock index plunges almost 5% after tit-for-tat tariffs
Baku, April 5, AZERTAC
German stocks tumbled on Friday after China responded to US President Donald Trump's unprecedented tariff announcement with retaliatory duties, DPA agency reported.
The leading German stock market index, the DAX - which measures the performance of 40 leading German companies on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange - ended the day 4.95% down at 20.642.
The second-tier MDAX, which includes medium-sized companies, fell by 5.46% to 25,409.
The DAX had lost ground the two previous days, ending the week down more than 8% and booking its largest weekly loss since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
DZ Bank analyst Sören Hettler said investors were fleeing to safety. China's announcement that it would impose 34% tariffs on US imports and introduce controls on the export of raw earths had considerably raised fears of an escalation, he said.
The EuroStoxx 50, the leading index for the eurozone, fell by 4.6% to 4,878. The index is slightly down for the year.
Among the heavy losers in Frankfurt were Deutsche Bank, whose shares slid by almost 10%, and Infineon, whose shares lost 7.1%.
