German stocks remained almost unchanged at the start of trading on Monday, with the benchmark DAX index decreasing by 17.3 points, or 0.13 percent, opening at 13,503.83 points.
The biggest winner among Germany's 30 largest listed companies at the start of trading was financial service provider Wirecard, increasing 1.37 percent, followed by utility RWE with 0.16 percent and sportswear manufacturer Adidas with 0.10 percent.
On Monday, Wirecard announced a partnership with the Chinese company EasyTransfer, jointly launching a new mobile payment app specifically targeting Chinese students studying abroad.
EasyTransfer alone recorded transactions worth 3.8 billion U.S. dollars last year. Its transaction volume had increased over eightfold over the last two years.
Shares of Lufthansa fell by 0.79 percent after cabin crew union UFO announced another strike at the largest German airliner, making it the biggest loser at the start of trading on Monday.
UFO announced to give further details on the planned strike in a press conference on Wednesday. Lufthansa had already been hit by strikes during the change of the year that caused about 200 flight cancellations.
Product prices for commercial customers in Germany decreased by 0.2 percent in December compared with the previous year, the Federal Statistical Office announced on Monday. While energy prices went down by 2.4 percent, prices of non-durable consumer goods such as meat and potatoes increased by 3.6 percent.
The euro was trading almost unchanged at 1.1097 dollars, increasing slightly by 0.11 percent on Monday morning.
Source: Xinhua |
