The index of Germany’s top 30 listed companies fell dramatically to 4,365 points shortly after the bell. Traders in Frankfurt were wildly selling shares after the Nikkei in Tokyo dropped 9.6 percent earlier on Friday and the Dow Jones on Thursday closed 7.3 percent lower.
“Whoever still has positions in these conditions has probably panicked and is trying to get out of the market at any price,” said one trader in Frankfurt.
By 10 am the market had come off its lows but was still down 8.7 percent at 4,463. The DAX had already closed down 2.5 percen on Thursday.