German stocks experienced a significant decline on Thursday, influenced by sluggish service sector activity data and the potential for escalating tensions in the Middle East, which adversely affected market sentiment.
Recent surveys reveal that growth in Germany's service sector has decelerated for the fourth consecutive month as a result of a marked decrease in incoming orders. The HCOB final services Purchasing Managers' Index dipped to a six-month low of 50.6, down from 51.2 in August.
The DAX index, a key benchmark, fell by 146 points or 0.8 percent, reaching 19,018, following a 0.3 percent drop in the previous trading session.
In corporate developments, SAP SE, a prominent software maker, saw its shares fall by 1.3 percent amid revelations of a U.S. price-fixing investigation involving the company.
Lufthansa experienced a minor dip in its stock value. The airline announced plans to resume select flights to the Middle East while avoiding Iranian and Iraqi airspace as a precautionary measure due to ongoing regional conflicts, until further notice.
LANXESS suffered a 3.3 percent decline as the specialty chemicals firm entered into an agreement to sell its Urethane Systems division to Japanese UBE Corporation.
Meanwhile, Vonovia, a major residential landlord, saw a 1.8 percent decrease in its stock price after projecting a total liquidity inflow of approximately 4 billion euros for 2024, consistent with the previous year's figure.
