The DAX has declined sharply in the Friday session. Currently, the index is at 11,685, down 1.82% on the day. In economic news, German consumer data is in focus. Retail sales declined by 2.0% in April, much worse than the estimate of a 0.4% gain. Later in the day, Germany releases CPI, with an estimate of 0.3%.
Equity markets are in red territory on Friday, in response to President Trump’s threat to slap tariffs on all Mexican products, due to the illegal immigration problem. Although Trump said that tariffs would be set at just 5%, risk appetite has fallen sharply. On the DAX, which is especially vulnerable to trade risks, bank and automaker listings are deep in negative territory. Deutsche Bank has declined 2.16%, while Daimler has fallen 3.33%, BMW is down 2.50%, and Volkswagen has plunged 4.2%.
Is the German locomotive slowing down? The normally strong labor market shocked investors as unemployment rolls soared by 60,000. This was the first gain in almost two years. There was more negative news on Friday, as retail sales fell 2.0%, its sharpest drop since January. German inflation is next, with Preliminary CPI projected to slow to 0.3% in May, after a strong gain of 1.0% in April.
