Germany's benchmark DAX index closes down

The benchmark DAX index at Frankfurt Stock Exchange on Thursday continued to go down and closed at 9,862.12 points.

The DAX index surged during the early hours of the trading but later dropped as word came that Bayer AG is considering making a bid for the agrochemical company Monsanto. The blue-chip DAX index lost 113.2 points, or 1.13 percent.

Due to its strong performance for the first quarter, the utilities company RWE surged by 6.77 percent. EON, another utilities company, added 1.48 percent. ProSiebenSat1 Media hiked by 1.19 percent. SAP went up by 0.47 percent. Deutsche Post rose by 0.19 percent.

On the other hand, Bayer lost 4.85 percent. Thyssenkrupp dropped by 2.21 percent. Volkswagen slipped by 2.19 percent. BASF slid by 2.1 percent. Commerzbank went down by 1.65 percent.

Bayer was the most traded share of the day with a turnover of 598.9 million euros (around 682.7 million U.S. dollars).