The DAX 40 closed about 1.3% down at 24,796 on Wednesday, reversing yesterday's advance, amid fading hopes of a quick resolution to the Middle East conflict and possible new tariffs from the Trump administration. Hostilities flared up, while conflicting signals over the status of negotiations kept investors on edge. Meanwhile, the US administration vowed to impose a 10%-12.5% tariff on its top trading partners, including the EU and the UK, over alleged links to goods produced with forced labour. Scout24 and SAP were the top losers among stocks, falling 4.9% and 4.1%. Deutsche Bank dropped 3.7% after CFO Raja Akram signalled that provisions for bad loans in the June quarter could exceed analysts’ expectations. Automakers also faced pressure, with Mercedes-Benz Group and BMW down 3.1% and 2.3%, respectively. On the opposite side, top gainers included RWE (3.7%), Merck (2.1%), Bayer (1.7%) and E.ON (1.7%).