DAX Edges Lower On Mixed Data

German stocks edged lower in cautious trade on Friday as mixed economic data dented optimism for a swift economic recovery.

While German industrial production saw a surprise drop in February, exports continued to recover despite pandemic-related lockdown restrictions, separate reports showed.

The benchmark DAX slid 23 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,179 after closing up 0.2 percent the previous day.

Evotec gained 0.7 percent. The drug discovery alliance and development partnership company announced that A2a receptor antagonist, which is in development for adult patients with advanced solid tumours, has entered human clinical trials.

TUI AG shares slumped nearly 7 percent. The travel agency has launched an offering of senior unsecured bonds convertible due 2028 in an aggregate principal amount of approximately 350 million euros with the option to increase the issuance volume to 400 million euros.

In economic releases, German industrial output dropped 1.6 percent month-on-month in February, while economists had forecast an increase of 1.5 percent, figures from Destatis revealed.

Another report showed that German exports increased 0.9 percent month-on-month in February, but slower than the 1.6 percent rise in January.

This was also slightly weaker than the economists’ forecast of 1 percent. Imports rebounded 3.6 percent after falling 3.5 percent in January.