Blue-chip DAX Index Slips; German Monthly Factory Orders Decline
German shares ended Monday in the red, with the blue-chip DAX index losing 0.58%, as the market reacted to updates regarding renewed escalations between Israel and Iran and the latest local manufacturing data.The conflict flared over the weekend after Israel and Iran exchanged strikes overnight, though losses were partly limited after Iran later said it had concluded its current military operations against Israel and US President Donald Trump demanded both countries immediately stop firing.On the economic front, Germany's new manufacturing orders fell 3.8% month over month in April, compared with the revised 4.5% gain in the previous month and the expected 2.2% drop, according to Investing.com data. Annually, factory orders rose 1.6%, against the revised 6.1% jump earlier.Destatis attributed the negative development to a "substantial decline" in automotive industry and electrical equipment orders, alongside fewer factory orders in the machinery and equipment segments."German factory orders fell by 3.8% m/m, with core orders down by the same amount, broadly in line with our expectations. But the drop followed on a large gain in March. Orders remained above pre-war levels," Oxford Economics said. "Today's figures confirm our expectations that the German economy and industry in general are faring relatively better than feared, thanks to a precautionary inventory buildup and some noncyclical support factors."In corporate news, Porsche Automobil Holding (PAH3.F), d/b/a Porsche SE, was one of the top stocks, rising 1.28%, after BofA Global Research reiterated its buy rating on the stock, citing the holding company's widening discount to its stake in Volkswagen (VOW.F)."Porsche SE (PSE) shares are down -23% y-t-d, reflecting the decline in its core holding VW, in which PSE owns a 53.1% stake, with VW down c17%; furthermore, PSE's holding discount has widened from 28% at the beginning of the year to 37%, vs a 12m avg. of 30%," BoFA noted, adding that by buying Porsche SE, investors buy a basket of Volkswagen and Porsche AG (P911.F) at an "attractive 37% discount." Volkswagen and Porsche AG were up by 0.06% and 2.30%, respectively, at the end of the trading day.Meanwhile, Henkel (HEN.F, HEN3.F) partnered with Canadian solar technology company Brilliant Matters to develop screen-printable silver inks for large-scale organic photovoltaic panel production. The German chemical and consumer goods group was down 0.72% at closing.