Investing.com – Germany equities were lower at the close on Thursday, as losses in the Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Insurance and Chemicals sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Frankfurt, the DAX declined 3.48% to hit a new 52-week low, while the MDAX index declined 3.14%, and the TecDAX index fell 2.69%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the DAX were Vonovia SE (DE:VNAn), which rose 1.28% or 0.53 points to trade at 42.08 at the close. Adidas AG (DE:ADSGN) fell 1.48% or 2.90 points to end at 193.55 and Deutsche Lufthansa AG (DE:LHAG) was down 1.64% or 0.325 points to 19.490 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Daimler AG NA O.N. (DE:DAIGn), which lost 6.28% or 3.140 points to trade at 46.860 in late trade. Fresenius SE & Co KGAA O.N. (DE:FREG) declined 6.09% or 3.060 points to end at 47.220 and Covestro AG (DE:1COV) shed 5.64% or 2.730 points to 45.710.
The top performers on the MDAX were Evotec AG O.N. (DE:EVTG) which rose 4.91% to 18.390, Axel Springer SE (DE:SPRGn) which was up 0.66% to settle at 53.000 and Alstria Office Reit-Ag (DE:AOXG) which gained 0.65% to close at 12.440.
The worst performers were Kion Group AG (DE:KGX) which was down 8.92% to 47.27 in late trade, Siltronic AG (DE:WAFGn) which lost 8.04% to settle at 72.960 and Software AG (DE:SOWGn) which was down 8.03% to 32.510 at the close.
The top performers on the TecDAX were SMA Solar Technology AG (DE:S92G) which rose 3.66% to 18.140, Hornbach Holding VZO O.N. (DE:HBH) which was up 2.61% to settle at 51.200 and Vossloh AG (DE:VOSG) which gained 1.97% to close at 43.950.
The worst performers were SGL Carbon SE (DE:SGCG) which was down 19.38% to 7.095 in late trade, Steinhoff International Holdings NV (DE:SNHG) which lost 14.71% to settle at 0.10 and SLM Solutions Group AG (DE:AM3D) which was down 10.48% to 11.10 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 643 to 78 and 57 ended unchanged on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
The DAX volatility index, which measures the implied volatility of DAX options, was up 20.55% to 24.29 a new 6-month high.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.30% or 3.70 to $1246.30 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in January fell 3.40% or 1.80 to hit $51.09 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 3.44% or 2.12 to trade at $59.44 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.30% to 1.1378, while EUR/GBP rose 0.01% to 0.8910.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.29% at 96.732.