(fxcue news) - German stocks are recovering from an early setback Tuesday morning with select counters attracting some strong buying interest. The early weakness was due to data showing a contraction in the nation's GDP, and concerns about the potential impact of the Trump administration's tariff moves and U.S. - China tensions on global economic growth. Investors are also focusing the political developments in the country as the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), led by Friedrich Merz, looks to form a coalition governement. The benchmark DAX, which opened at 22,279.01 and dropped to 22,255.57 subsequently, recovered well and was up 19.96 points or 0.09% at 22,441.32 a little while ago. Rheinmetall is rising 3.6% on reports Germany's chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz has opened talks with the Social Democrats to quickly approve as much as €200 billion ($210 billion) in special defense spending. Thyssenkrupp AG is soaring nearly 13% after reports that it will hold an extraordinary general meeting to conclude a spin-off of a minority stake in its warship division this calendar year. Freseniuis Medical Care is gaining 1.3% on stronger than expected earnings update. Deutsche Bank is up 1.4% and RWE is advancing 1.3%, while Vonovia, Bayer and Commerzbank are up 1.1%, 1% and 0.8%, respectively. HeidelbergCement is up nearly 1% MTU Aero, Deutsche Telekom, Fresenius and Siemens Healthineers are up with modest gains. Infineon is declining nearly 2%. Siemens Energy is down 1.7%, and Henkel is down 1.3%. Brenntag, Beiersdorf, Continental, Deutsche Post, Volkswagen, Daimler Truck Holding and Symrise are moderately lower. Data from Destatis showed Germany's gross domestic product declined 0.2% in the fourth-quarter from a quarter ago, reversing a 0.1% sequential growth in the third quarter. On a yearly basis, GDP dropped by calendar-adjusted 0.2%, as estimated, after falling 0.3% a quarter ago. Price-adjusted GDP was down 0.4% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, in contrast to the 0.1% growth logged each in the preceding two quarters. Exports of goods and services were down 2.2% sequentially, while imports of goods and services grew 0.5%. Final consumption expenditure registered a quarterly increase of 0.2%, with the 0.4% rise in government spending outpacing household final consumption expenditure growth of 0.1%. For the whole year of 2024, the statistical office confirmed the year-on-year decline of 0.2%.