FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Lanxess ' profit warning once again weighed on the European chemicals sector on Tuesday. The gains posted since the beginning of the year have now been eroded. In the Dax, Covestro and BASF came under particular pressure, with discounts of 5.9 and 2.9 percent respectively at last count. Lanxess in the MDax slipped 15 percent.

Lanxess said that demand, which was already generally very weak at the start of the year, and ongoing destocking by customers continued in the second quarter. "Investors' focus should now be on the two chemical groups Covestro and BASF, whether they are affected by the same problems or whether weaker demand is at least less of an issue here," said capital markets strategist Juergen Molnar of broker RoboMarkets./ajx/men