Disappointing US growth data increased initial bearish pressure on the Dax on Thursday. The main German index began trading with losses and increased them throughout the day. At the close of trading, it was down 0.95 percent at 17,917.28 points. This meant that the Dax fell back below the well-known 18,000 point mark. The MDax of mid-sized companies finally fell by 1.15 percent on Thursday to 26,043.18 points.

US economic growth slowed significantly more than expected in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter. At the same time, core inflation has increased, economists at Dutch bank ING wrote. This makes an imminent rate cut by the US Federal Reserve Bank even less likely. Susannah Streeter, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the data dented previous optimism in financial markets.

There was also no good economic news from Germany. According to the GfK consumer climate, purchasing sentiment has recovered slightly, but remains bad.

US and European stock markets also closed in the red

Charts for European and American markets also showed clear losses for the most part. The eurozone's leading index, EuroStoxx 50, closed one percent in the red. In Paris there was an equally significant drop, while in London prices rose slightly. New York's leading index, the Dow Jones Industrial, lost a good 1.6 percent at the end of the European day, as did the Nasdaq 100, which has a large technological component.

Trading activity in the German market was dominated by the reporting season, which was gaining momentum. Shares of Symrise, the DAX's worst-ranked stock, lost four percent. The flavor and fragrance maker grew significantly in the first quarter. But competitor Givaudan has set the bar high with its even more significant growth earlier in the year, wrote Jefferies analyst Charles Bentley.

Deutsche Bank is strong according to the numbers, its shares rose 8.2 percent

By contrast, Deutsche Bank's initially weak shares eventually rose to the top of the index by 8.2 percent. They reached their highest level since 2017. The change in price trend at lunchtime was due to the analyst conference on the quarterly figures, in which the Frankfurt company presented the prospect of more concrete plans for share buybacks .

Delivery Hero and Hellofresh took the top spots on the MDax with markups of 6.4 and 3.7 percent respectively. While the meal delivery service promised even faster growth than before thanks to additional revenue, the meal kit provider was able to compensate for the slow development of its core business with the ready-meal assortment.

By contrast, Befesa shares lost 16.6 percent, reaching their lowest level since November. The recycling specialist's prospects disappointed investors.

Current yield rises to 2.61 percent

The euro last traded at $1.0719. The European Central Bank had set the reference rate at $1.0720.

In the bond market, the current yield increased from 2.58 percent the day before to 2.61 percent. The Rex bond index fell 0.08 percent to 123.99 points. The Bund future lost 0.32 percent to 129.68 points.