Financial Markets in Frankfurt Experience Initial Gains on Easter Monday
The Frankfurt Stock Exchange saw a positive start to the trading day on Easter Monday, with the Dax index initially recording a 0.6 percent gain, standing at around 24,175 points by 9:30 a.m. Adidas, Sartorius and Infineon led the index, while Vonovia, Heidelberg Materials and Rheinmetall lagged behind.
The dominant theme at the start of trading was the US President’s defeat in the US trade court, as the majority of the global tariffs imposed by Donald Trump were halted. Thomas Altmann of QC Partners commented, “The stock markets are celebrating Donald Trump’s defeat in the US trade court. Even if the White House will appeal, suddenly all the tariffs imposed on Liberation Day are in question.”
The court’s ruling declared the trigger for the large sell-off in April as unlawful. “This has put the economy and the stock markets back in the state they were in before Liberation Day” Altmann said. Despite the ruling, the uncertainty on the markets remains high, as it is still unclear how long the appeal process will take and how it will end. Moreover, it may take a while for delayed shipments of goods to be caught up and for supply chains to recover.
According to Altmann, the low trading volumes in Europe today, due to the Easter Monday holiday, will also contribute to the uncertainty. “Last year, trading volumes at the Dax were about 20 percent lower on Easter Monday than on a normal trading day” he noted. However, even on such days, fewer orders can already create the conditions for significant price movements. “Perhaps this is exactly what will pave the way for the Dax to reach an all-time high of 30 this year, matching the number of records set in the first half of last year” Altmann speculated.
The euro was slightly weaker in the morning, with one euro costing 1.1274 US dollars and one dollar being worth 0.8870 euros. Meanwhile, the oil price rose significantly, with a barrel of North Sea Brent crude costing around 65.92 US dollars at 9 a.m. local time, a 1.6 percent increase from the previous day’s close.