By Madeleine Nissen

FRANKFURT--Deutsche Bank AG (DB) Chief Executive John Cryan on Wednesday said a merger with smaller local peer Commerzbank AG (CBK.XE) isn't an option and that he wasn't looking for partners in Germany.

"Part of the work we are doing is to make the bank a bit smaller," Mr. Cryan told a German banking conference.

Earlier Wednesday, a German magazine had reported that Deutsche Bank discussed the possibility of a merger internally. "Those considerations were theoretical and at a very early stage. It is unclear whether they will resume," Manager Magazin said, without citing sources.

German bank shares were the main gainers on the country's DAX index on Wednesday following the report, boosted further alongside other European bank shares by hopes of U.S. interest rates increases.

At 0837 GMT, Deutsche Bank was up 3.9% at EUR13.39 and Commerzbank was up 4.6% at EUR6.38.

-Write to Madeleine Nissen at madeleine.nissen@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 31, 2016 05:17 ET (09:17 GMT)