FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The German stock market saw the DAX extend its losses on Thursday, widening its distance from the symbolic 25,000-point mark. Market sentiment remains dominated by nervousness, particularly in precious metals and cryptocurrencies. Additionally, uncertainty is high in the technology sector, as artificial intelligence is currently challenging a multitude of traditional business models.

The price of silver once again plummeted, and according to Jochen Stanzl, analyst at Consorsbank, a drop toward 60 US dollars or lower could immediately rekindle investor fears of follow-up sell-offs in other asset classes. Bitcoin also continued its decline.

On the day of the European Central Bank's (ECB) interest rate decision, the DAX ultimately posted a loss of 0.46 percent, closing at 24,491.06 points. During the session, the index had slipped by as much as 1.3 percent, coming close to its lowest level of the year so far. The MDAX of mid-cap stocks ended the day down 0.29 percent at 31,434.51 points.

Key interest rates in the eurozone will remain unchanged for now into the new year, as expected by the market. ECB President Christine Lagarde reaffirmed after the ECB Council meeting in Frankfurt: "We are in a good position and inflation is in a good place." The Frenchwoman commented calmly on the euro's appreciation against the dollar, noting that the euro has risen since March 2025, and this has been factored into the European Central Bank's scenarios.

In this environment, however, investors preferred to take profits and move to the sidelines, observed market expert Andreas Lipkow. Weak signals from the US labor market further pressured prices.

Defense stocks such as Rheinmetall declined under the ongoing shadow of Ukraine talks. For Rheinmetall, investors were particularly concerned that expectations for 2026 might be too high. Shares fell 6.5 percent, making them the worst performer in the DAX.

Auto stocks were also sold off by investors. Weak quarterly results from Volvo Cars were seen as the trigger. In the DAX, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen (VW) all ended near the bottom of the index, posting losses of up to 3.7 percent.

Quarterly results from domestic companies had a strong impact on some shares. Rational jumped 13.5 percent to lead the MDAX after the commercial kitchen equipment supplier beat expectations. At Evonik, investors accepted the specialty chemicals group’s dividend cut but welcomed the possibility of an earnings revival in 2026. While the chemicals sector consolidated its strong gains from the previous day, Evonik shares rose 3.5 percent.

At the bottom of the small-cap SDAX index, Heidelberger Druck shares slumped by more than 14 percent. Analyst Stefan Augustin of Warburg Research identified the biggest weakness in the engineering company's quarterly results as incoming orders, which fell short of his estimates.

The eurozone's leading index, the EuroStoxx 50, fell 0.75 percent to 5,925.70 points. Markets in Zurich and especially in London also moved lower. In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial was down by nearly one percent at the close of European trading./la/he

--- By Lutz Alexander, dpa-AFX ---