German shares lost on Wednesday, with the benchmark DAX index down 23.75 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 12,647.27 points.

Energy group RWE lost the most among the blue chips, down by 2.07 percent, followed by housing association Vonovia and pharmaceutical company Merck, which lost 1.28 percent and 1.19 percent respectively.

Lufthansa, Commerzbank and German industrial giant Thyssenkrupp were the top three winners, rising 4.33 percent, 4.00 percent and 1.83 percent respectively.

Deutsche Bank was the most traded share of the day, with a turnover of 249.58 million euros (283.89 million U.S. dollars).