Germany stocks higher at close of trade

Germany stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Utilities and Consumer & Cyclical sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Frankfurt, the DAX gained 0.28%, while the MDAX index gained 0.34%, and the TecDAX index gained 0.01%.

The best performers of the session on the DAX were Merck KGAA O.N., which rose 3.44% or 2.510 points to trade at 75.550 at the close. Meanwhile, RWE AG ST O.N. (DE:RWEG) added 3.09% or 0.350 points to end at 11.695 and Fresenius SE & Co KGAA O.N.  was up 2.88% or 1.810 points to 64.680 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Continental AG O.N., which fell 1.28% or 2.500 points to trade at 192.250 at the close. Lufthansa AG VNA O.N.  declined 1.00% or 0.140 points to end at 13.910 and Deutsche Telekom AG Na  was down 0.91% or 0.140 points to 15.305.

The top performers on the MDAX were STADA Arzneimittel VNA O.N. which rose 2.90% to 35.800, Metro AG ST O.N. (DE:MEOG) which was up 1.84% to settle at 27.160 and Brenntag AG  which gained 1.80% to close at 50.900.

The worst performers were Aurubis AG (DE:NAFG) which was down 4.10% to 43.405 in late trade, Tui AG NA (DE:TUIGn) which lost 2.91% to settle at 13.170 and Elringklinger AG NA O.N.  which was down 2.24% to 23.365 at the close.

The top performers on the TecDAX were BB Biotech AG  which rose 3.18% to 44.225, Qiagen NV  which was up 2.23% to settle at 20.440 and Sartorius AG VZO O.N.  which gained 2.22% to close at 227.800.

The worst performers were SMA Solar Technology AG (DE:S92G) which was down 4.16% to 43.225 in late trade, Wirecard AG which lost 2.26% to settle at 33.930 and Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology O.N. (DE:PV) which was down 2.08% to 97.010 at the close.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange by 465 to 406 and 15 ended unchanged.

The DAX volatility index, which measures the implied volatility of DAX options, was down 2.40% to 21.55.

Gold for June delivery was down 0.25% or 3.00 to $1220.50 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in May fell 0.49% or 0.18 to hit $36.61 a barrel, while the June Brent oil contract fell 0.85% or 0.33 to trade at $38.34 a barrel.

EUR/USD was up 0.04% to 1.1393, while EUR/GBP fell 0.41% to 0.7975.

The US Dollar Index was down 0.08% at 94.50.