German stocks fell on Friday as investors parsed through mixed economic data and anticipated the release of the U.S. jobs report for further insight into the Federal Reserve's monetary policy direction.
According to data from Destatis, Germany saw an acceleration in both exports and imports in April, while industrial production experienced a slower decline.
German exports increased by 1.6 percent month-on-month, up from March's revised growth of 1.1 percent and surpassing the predicted 1.1 percent growth. Imports also saw a significant rise, advancing to 2.0 percent from 0.5 percent in March, well above economists' expectations of 0.6 percent.
Germany's industrial production edged down by 0.1 percent in April, following a 0.4 percent decline in March. Despite the moderated pace of decline, this result contrasted with economists' forecast of a 0.3 percent increase.
The benchmark DAX index dropped by 78 points, or 0.4 percent, to 18,575, after a 0.4 percent rise in the previous session.
In corporate news, Vonovia shares plummeted by 3.2 percent following a rating downgrade by Morgan Stanley.
