The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.3% by 11:33 GMT +2. Britain's FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 dropped 0.6%. The German DAX Index fell 0.2%. This was prompted by the announcement of German Chancellor Angela Merkel that she wants to see very quick action in response to the record number of deaths from the coronavirus in the country. It is worth noting that the French government also intends to increase attention to the movement of citizens, namely, to tighten border controls from Monday. In addition, the curfew in the country on Saturday will begin at 18:00 local time, rather than 20:00, as it is now. The price of shares of the developer of corporate software SAP rose by 1.5%. Good preliminary annual reporting served this. At the same time, the company predicts a decrease in operating profit in 2021. Siemens Energy AG shares lost 3.3% after General Electric Co accused a subsidiary of the German company of using stolen trade secret information to obtain lucrative contracts.
