German Market In Negative Territory

(RTTNews) - The German market is trading lower on Friday afternoon, after the country's retail sales fell unexpectedly in April.

Germany's retail sales fell unexpectedly in April after rising for three consecutive months, Destatis said. Retail sales turnover declined by a real 0.9 percent from March, when it was up 0.1 percent. Sales were expected to rise 0.2 percent.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is adding 0.05 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is falling 0.05 percent.

The DAX index is currently losing 0.1 percent.

Commerzbank is losing 1.3 percent and Deutsche Bank is moderately lower.

Meanwhile, Deutsche Telekom is adding 1.2 percent. Infineon Technologies and Beiersdorf are advancing 0.9 percent each.

Singulus Technologies said today that its outlook is still optimistic. The stock is little changed.

The Asian stocks fell broadly after overnight data showed the world's biggest economy shrank by an annualized rate of 1 percent in the first quarter, the first contraction since early 2011 despite resilient demand from consumers.

In the U.S., futures point to a lower open on Wall Street. The major U.S. averages rose about half a percent each overnight, with the S&P 500 closing at a fresh record high, as investors brushed off the weak reading on first-quarter economic growth blaming an unusually cold weather for the contraction.

Crude for July delivery is falling $0.46 to $103.12 per barrel, while August gold is losing $3.8 to $1253.3 a troy ounce.