BERLIN, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- After heavy losses over investor fears of a second COVID-19 wave on Thursday, German stocks were off to a good start on Friday, with the benchmark DAX index rising 69.6 points, or 0.55 percent, opening at 12,773.35 points.

The biggest winner among Germany's 30 largest listed companies at the start of trading was carmaker Daimler, increasing by 4.67 percent, followed by automotive supplier Continental, with 2.49 percent and carmaker Volkswagen with 2.03 percent.

On Thursday after trading, Daimler announced an EBIT of more than three million euros (3.5 million U.S. dollars) in the third quarter of 2020, exceeding market expectations on operating profit in every division of its business.

Shares of Munich Re fell by 1.0 percent. The German reinsurer was the biggest loser at the start of trading on Friday after British investment bank Barclays left its rating for Munich Re at "Overweight" with a price target of 269 euros. Shares of the German reinsurer was trading at around 207 euros at the start of trading on Friday.

The yield on German ten-year bonds went down 0.005 percentage points to minus 0.619 percent, and the euro was trading almost unchanged at 1,1709 U.S. dollars, decreasing by 0.01 percent on Friday morning.