Financial Markets Remain Buoyant Amid Ongoing Global Tensions
European stock markets continued their upward trend on Tuesday, with the Dax index closing at a new high, up 1.8 percent from the previous day’s close. The index, calculated at around 12:30 pm, stood at approximately 23,699 points, driven by strong performances from Heidelberg Materials, Siemens Energy and Deutsche Bank. The Deutsche Börse, E-On and Rheinmetall also made significant gains.
Market participants remained optimistic about a lasting ceasefire between Israel and Iran, despite the Iranian government’s failure to comply with a 12-hour ceasefire proposed by US President Donald Trump. The Israeli Defense Minister has announced a response to the Iranian attack, but investors remained undeterred.
The morning’s positive sentiment was further boosted by the release of the Ifo-Geschäftsklimaindex, which showed a significant improvement in the outlook of German businesses.
Meanwhile, the euro strengthened against the US dollar, with one euro equivalent to 1.1597 US dollars and one US dollar trading at 0.8623 euros.
In the energy market, however, a different story unfolded, as the price of Brent crude oil plummeted by 2.9 percent, with a barrel of the North Sea variety trading at 69.42 US dollars by 12 pm German time, a 206-cent drop from the previous day’s close.