Following this week's gains, Dax investors are retreating to the sidelines. The German benchmark index slipped 0.3 percent to 24,337 points at Wednesday's opening bell. 'Markets are currently reeling between hope and fear of escalation, leaving them increasingly dependent on Donald Trump,' noted Timo Emden, analyst at Emden Research. Upcoming quarterly results from Nvidia could provide a distraction. 'Even strong figures may struggle to fully smooth over the concerns surrounding the Iran conflict.' The AI pioneer is set to release its quarterly earnings after the US market close tonight.

Among individual stocks, Brenntag benefited from positive analyst sentiment. Shares of the chemicals distributor rose one percent after Jefferies analysts upgraded the stock to 'Hold' from 'Underperform' and raised the price target to 56 euros from 42 euros. In contrast, Springer Nature shares tumbled by as much as nine percent. Financial investor BC Partners offloaded a major stake in the Berlin-based academic publisher for the first time since its IPO. At 18.75 euros, the price was 8.5 percent below Tuesday's Xetra closing price, representing an unusually steep discount. Attention is also fixed on the Commerzbank annual general meeting, where the defense against a planned takeover by Italian banking giant UniCredit is expected to take center stage.

(Report by Stefanie Geiger, edited by Sabine Wollrab. For inquiries, please contact our editorial office at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and economics) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets)