BERLIN, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- German stocks were off to a shaky start on Thursday, with the benchmark DAX index losing 128.23 points, or 1.02 percent, opening at 12,429.41 points.

Pharmaceutical company Merck showed the smallest loss among Germany's 30 largest listed companies at the start of trading, decreasing 0.20 percent, followed by housing company Deutsche Wohnen with minus 0.34 percent and consumer goods company Beiersdorf with minus 0.55 percent.

Shares of MTU Aero Engines fell by 2.39 percent. The German aircraft engine manufacturer was the biggest loser at the start of trading on Thursday.

On Wednesday after trading, automotive supplier Continental announced that sales in the third quarter of 2020 declined by 2.7 percent year-on-year to around 10.3 billion euros. Continental declined by 0.69 percent at the start of trading.

The optimism of German consumers for November was "fading noticeably" as the monthly consumer climate index published by market research institute GfK fell to minus 3.1 points on Thursday. Around three quarters of German consumers assumed that COVID-19 was a "major or very major threat."

"The rapid increase in infection rates is leading to a tightening of restrictions brought on by the pandemic. Fear of a second lockdown, should infections get out of control in the coming winter months, is also increasing," explained Rolf Buerkl, GfK consumer expert.

The yield on German ten-year bonds went down 0.005 percentage points to minus 0.593 percent, and the euro was trading almost unchanged at 1.1861 U.S. dollars, decreasing by 0.01 percent on Thursday morning. Enditem

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