DAX Holds Steady As Business Activity Improves

(RTTNews) - German stocks held steady on Thursday after the release of encouraging private sector PMI numbers.

The manufacturing sector's pace of contraction slowed in May and the services sector outperformed, helping underpin sentiment.

The HCOB Manufacturing PMI improved to 45.4 from April's 42.5 while the Services PMI rose from 53.2 to 53.9.

The benchmark DAX was up 22 points, or 0.1 percent, at 18,702 after falling 0.3 percent the previous day.

Nvidia's shares jumped nearly 7 percent in Frankfurt after record sales of artificial intelligence chips sent the company's revenue soaring 262 percent in the past quarter.

Ticketing firm CTS Eventim climbed 9 percent after Q1 EBITDA beat forecasts.

Merck KGaA, a leading science and technology company, was marginally higher after it agreed to a $600m deal to buy life science company Mirus Bio.

Gerresheimer soared 12 percent. The packaging and medical equipment maker Gerresheimer has signed a purchase agreement for acquiring Blitz LuxCo Sarl.