FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Shortly before the Dax reached a record high, it ran out of steam on Wednesday afternoon. Although the leading index was only 42 points short of another high at its daily high – currently at just over 20,522 – the index quickly turned negative. Most recently, the Dax closed at 20,352 points, slightly above its previous day's close.

The trigger for the sudden drop was a report by CNN that US President-elect Donald Trump could declare a national economic emergency in order to enforce the import tariffs he had announced.

The leading index for the eurozone, the EuroStoxx 50, recently fell by 0.3 percent to 4,997 points./bek/mis