The central banks still have the stock markets under control: On Tuesday, the Bank of Japan put another damper on the already weak market sentiment. The Bank of Japan decided to ease the range in which the long-term bond yield moves. The markets saw this as the first step towards at least a slight tightening of the monetary policy reins.

As a result, stock exchange prices in Asia plummeted and the German stock market also responded with losses. The leading index Dax fell by 0.94 percent to 13,811.82 points in the first hour of trading. The MDax of medium-sized stocks was 1.31 percent lower at 24,696.98 points. The leading eurozone index, the EuroStoxx 50, also fell by 1.1 percent.

Brenntag gained 0.4 percent among the Dax favorites. An activist investor is pushing for an end to the chemicals dealer's planned takeover of the US company Univar.

Rheinmetall slipped a further 5.5 percent. The background are the breakdowns in the Puma infantry fighting vehicle. Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht has threatened to decommission the vehicle from the Bundeswehr.

The titles of the fashion manufacturer Hugo Boss rose by two percent after a buy recommendation from Deutsche Bank. The papers of the real estate group Aroundtown went down by 8.5 percent, the Berenberg Bank received its buy vote.

The vacuum pump manufacturer Pfeiffer Vacuum raised the sales forecast, the shares increased by 1.3 percent. For Kloeckner

The shares of the charging technology provider Compleo reacted to the initiation of orderly insolvency proceedings in self-administration with a price drop of 85 percent.