The Dax opened with modest losses on Thursday, with the German benchmark index slipping 0.2 percent to 24,695 points. Hopes for progress in peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran had recently propelled the Dax upward, gaining more than three percent since the start of the week. 'From the outside, it is impossible to gauge how much the U.S. and Iran have actually converged,' said Thomas Altmann of QC Partners. He noted that markets have priced in a peace scenario several times in recent weeks. 'So far, they have been wrong every time.'

Iran is reportedly reviewing the latest U.S. proposals to end the conflict. This follows statements by U.S. President Donald Trump, who indicated he was willing to wait a few days for the 'right answers' from Tehran. At the same time, he threatened renewed strikes should Iran fail to agree to a deal. On the oil markets, prices rebounded following a recent slump. Brent North Sea crude and U.S. WTI both rose by 1.5 percent to 106.56 and 99.74 dollars per barrel, respectively.

Among the biggest laggards in early trading were Brenntag and Commerzbank, both of which traded ex-dividend, falling around four percent. On the winning side, Porsche advanced by 1.1 percent.

Nvidia's quarterly results failed to excite investors. While the surging demand for high-performance processors for Artificial Intelligence (AI) fueled another growth spurt for the group, the shares nonetheless edged lower in after-hours U.S. trading.

(Reported by: Daniela Pegna, edited by Christian Rüttger. For inquiries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and economics) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for corporate and markets).)