DAX Drifts Lower As Weak PMI Data Weigh On Sentiment

(RTTNews) - German stocks drifted lower in cautious trade Tuesday morning as investors reacted to German PMI data and looked ahead to the crucial U.S. jobs data for clues about the Federal Reserve's monetary policy. The focus was also on the progress in Ukraine peace talks.

The benchmark DAX, which dropped to 24,199.94 earlier, was down 98.70 or 0.4% at 24,161.97 a little while ago.

Rheinmetall shed about 4.65%. Siemens Energy, MTU Aero Engines, SAP, Commerzbank, Heidelberg Materials, Scout24 and Infineon Technologies lost 0.6 to 1.25%.

Merck climbed about 2.75%. BASF gained nearly 2%, while Zalando, Symrise, Fresenius Medical Care, Mercedes-Benz, Henkel, Volkswagen, Daimler Truck Holding and GEA Group moved up 0.7 to 1.25%.

Data from S&P Global showed the HCOB Flash Germany Composite PMI fell to 51.5 in December, the lowest in four months, compared to 52.4 in November and below forecasts of 52.4.

Private sector activity slowed due to sluggishness in underlying demand. The Services PMI for December came in at 52.6 compared to 53.1 a month earlier, while the manufacturing PMI was at 47.7, compared to 48.2 a month earlier.

The HCOB Flash Eurozone Composite PMI fell to 51.9 in December, its lowest level in three months, down from 52.8 in November. Private sector PMI came in at 52.6, compared ot 53.6, while manufacturing PMI was 49.2 in the month, as against 59.6 in the previous month.

The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for the Euro Area climbed by 8.7 points from the prior month to 33.7 in December, the highest reading in five months.

Data from Eurostat showed the Eurozone's trade surplus widened to €18.4 billion in October 2025 from €7.1 billion a year earlier.