FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The major order from the German armed forces for Rheinmetall continued to have an effect on Friday morning. The shares of the Düsseldorf-based company extended their recovery at the top of the Dax by 2 percent. They thus recovered more than half of the previous week's slump. This was triggered by the European elections and concerns about European defense spending in light of the new elections in France.

Now the largest order in the company's history has brought relief to Rheinmetall. A framework agreement for artillery ammunition worth up to 8.5 billion euros was concluded with the German armed forces. This also helped industry colleagues Hensoldt and Renk to get back on their feet.

The latter had been hit particularly hard by the industry correction. In the previous week, they were at times 43 percent below their record high, which they had already reached at the beginning of April. Hensoldt had fallen by around 30 percent from its high and Rheinmetall by not quite 20 percent./ag/jha/