FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX Broker) - Europe's insurers have struggled this week. The Stoxx Europe 600 Insurance could not follow the strong overall market, only the health sector is even weaker. The start of the hurricane season is casting its shadow.

In a recent commentary, analyst Kamran Hossain from the bank JPMorgan emphasized that hurricane "Beryl" had reached the highest storm category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale at a historically early stage. And this does not bode well in terms of major damage. After all, its predecessor "Emma" in 2005 heralded the season in which "Katrina" ultimately caused the worst damage in history. Hossain also sees reinsurance prices coming back somewhat from their highs.

Munich Re shares are the weakest stock on the DAX, down around 4 percent for the week. At one point they were even down almost 6 percent, while the Dax has gained two percent in the past five days. Hannover Re was down a good one percent for the week. Allianz shares lagged behind the market with a plus of one percent./ag/mis