BERLIN, March 16 (Xinhua) -- After falling by more than 12 percent last week, German stocks continued to suffer heavy losses on Monday, with the benchmark DAX index decreasing by 503.6 points, or 5.5 percent, opening at 8,728.48 points.
This marks the first time since February 2016 that the German DAX has fallen below the 9,000-point mark.
The least decreasing company among Germany's 30 largest listed companies was telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom, with shares falling by 3.56 percent on Monday.
Pharmaceutical companies Merck and Bayer came in second and third, decreasing by 3.77 percent and 3.81 percent respectively at the start of trading on Monday.
Shares in MTU Aero Engines fell by 8.89 percent. The German aircraft engine manufacturer was the biggest loser at the start of trading on Monday.
Germany's government and airlines are to discuss further coronavirus crisis-related aid measures at midday on Monday local time.
The yield on German ten-year bonds went up by 0.004 percentage points to minus 0.581 percent on Monday morning.
The euro was trading almost unchanged at 1.1154 U.S. dollars, decreasing slightly by 0.01 percent on Monday morning.
