FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - After two strong sessions, the German stock market ran out of steam on Thursday. Even a further decline in oil prices and fresh records on Wall Street failed to ignite the Dax. The German benchmark index retreated steadily throughout the afternoon, closing 1.02 percent lower at 24,663.61 points. As was the case the previous day, the psychological 25,000-point threshold proved to be too high a hurdle.
The MDax, which tracks mid-cap stocks, fell by 0.69 percent to 31,561.23 points. The Eurozone benchmark EuroStoxx 50 declined by nearly one percent.
Market attention remained focused on a heavy slate of corporate quarterly reports, oil price movements, and the situation in Iran. According to US President Donald Trump, an agreement to end the conflict with the country is possible in the coming days. However, investors do not yet view current developments in the Middle East as a 'free pass' for the Dax to return to its previous record levels, commented market expert Andreas Lipkow from broker CMC Markets. The index reached its all-time high of 25,507 points in January./bek/he
