Berlin, Jun 16 (IANS): German stocks were almost unchanged at the start of trading on Wednesday, with the benchmark DAX index growing 27.28 points, or 0.17 per cent, opening at 15,756.8 points.

The biggest winner among Germany's 30 largest listed companies was stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse, increasing by 1.22 per cent, followed by consumer goods company Henkel with 0.81 per cent and aircraft engine manufacturer MTU Aero Engines with 0.80 per cent, Xinhua reported.

On Wednesday, US bank JP Morgan confirmed its price target for MTU at 191 euros (about 231 US dollars) and left the rating at "neutral." Shares of the German aircraft engine manufacturer were trading at around 213 euros at the start of trading on Wednesday.

Shares of SAP fell by 1.03 percent. The German software company was the biggest loser at the start of trading on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the German ifo Institute lowered its growth forecast for the German economy in 2021 from 3.7 per cent to 3.3 per cent.

"Bottlenecks in the supply of intermediate products are the main factor for dampening growth in the short term," said Timo Wollmershaeuser, head of forecasts at ifo.

The yield on German 10-year bonds grew 0.0120 percentage points to minus 0.2410 per cent and the euro was trading almost unchanged at 1.2130 US dollars, increasing by 0.01 per cent on Wednesday morning.