German shares lost on Thursday, with the benchmark DAX index down 171.38 points, or 1.39 percent, to close at 12,177.23 points.

Semiconductor manufacturer Infineon Technologies lost the most among the blue chips, down by 3.80 percent, followed by tire specialist Continental and European health care company Fresenius SE, which lost 2.99 percent and 2.36 percent respectively.

Multinational chemical firm Linde, pharmaceutical company Merck and Deutsche Bank were the top three winners, rising 0.86 percent, 0.39 percent and 0.33 percent respectively.

German multinational chemical and pharmaceutical company Bayer was the most traded share of the day, with a turnover of 367.78 million euros (425.99 million U.S. dollars).