BERLIN, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- German shares went off to a bad start on Friday, with the benchmark DAX index losing 116.43 points, or 0.74 percent, opening at 15,579.9 points.
The biggest winner among Germany's 40 largest listed companies was carmaker Daimler, increasing by 1.79 percent, followed by aircraft engine manufacturer MTU Aero Engines with 1.79 percent and building materials company HeidelbergCement with 1.30 percent.
On Friday, Daimler announced declining sales in the third quarter (Q3) because of the global semiconductor shortage. Still, EBIT grew by almost 500 million euros year-on-year to 3.58 billion euros (4.2 billion U.S. dollars).
Shares of Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) fell by 2.72 percent. The German dialysis specialist was the biggest loser at the start of trading on Friday.
Following the takeover of housing company Deutsche Wohnen by Vonovia, Deutsche Wohnen is no longer part of the DAX and was replaced by consumer goods manufacturer Beiersdorf which had only left the country's blue-chip index in March.
Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) in Q3 rose by 1.8 percent on the previous quarter and was even up 2.5 percent year-on-year, the country's Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) announced on Friday.
The yield on German 10-year bonds increased 0.0485 percentage points to minus 0.1025 percent and the euro was trading almost unchanged at 1.1683 dollars, increasing by 0.01 percent on Friday morning.
