German stocks continued their decline on Friday, exacerbating the losses from the previous session, due to prevailing risk-averse sentiment driven by concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve may have delayed interest rate cuts for too long, potentially jeopardizing the world's largest economy.
The benchmark DAX index fell by 198 points, or 1.1%, to 17,884, following a 2.3% drop in the prior session.
Technology stocks were particularly hard hit, with Infineon Technologies plummeting 3.6% after U.S. chipmaker Intel announced it would cut over 15% of its workforce in a significant cost-reduction initiative.
Major banks also suffered, with Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank declining by 1.4% and 1.6%, respectively.
In the automotive sector, key players such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen each saw their shares fall by around 1%.
