-- Local equities were closed lower on Wednesday, as the market weighed Germany's latest inflation figures against the anticipated US Federal Reserve interest rate decision due later in the day.
Amid a busy day for economic and corporate updates, the blue-chip DAX index closed the session 0.27% in the red.
Preliminary data from Destatis showed German annual inflation accelerated to 2.9% in April from the previous 2.7%, behind the market forecast of 3%. The core inflation rate, which excludes food and energy prices, declined to 2.3% from 2.5% a month ago.
"Turning to the ECB, German inflation data adds to the evidence of increasing stagflationary pressures ahead of tomorrow's policy meeting. As much as the rise in actual inflation and inflation expectations will fuel the rate hike debate, growing signs of adverse growth effects will make aggressive rate hikes less straightforward," ING noted.
Meanwhile, the ifo Institute said that German companies are accelerating their headcount reductions in response to persistent global instability, noting the layoffs are affecting nearly every industry sector. The ifo Employment Barometer fell to 91.3 points in April 2026, down from 93.4 points a month ago, hitting the lowest level since May 2020.
On the corporate side, adidas (ADS.F) soared to the top of the DAX, climbing 8.35%, after outperforming first-quarter expectations and sticking to its full-year targets. The German sportswear giant posted a 14% increase in currency-neutral revenue to 6.59 billion euros, surpassing the consensus of 9% growth, and expects a high-single-digit currency-neutral sales jump for 2026, corresponding to 2 billion euros in absolute terms.
"Overall, a good print with the only major question likely to be the relative weakness of footwear in the mix and how much of the beat came from World Cup products. In our view, this is a strong performance with adidas winning in a number of important categories. Trading on 15x the stock was not pricing in a FY upgrade at this stage and we see this as likely to be enough to see a positive reaction today," Deutsche Bank Research wrote.
On the other hand, Mercedes-Benz Group (MBG.F) reported a 5% decline in first-quarter revenue to 31.60 billion euros, with a sharp sales slump in China eclipsing rising demand for electric vehicles and growth across US and European markets. The German automaker was down 0.56% at closing.