German Dax index slightly fell on Thursday. At the Xetra closing, the index was calculated at 20,317 points, a minus of 0.1 percent compared to the previous day’s closing. After a start with slight losses, the Dax moved to the level of the previous day’s closing in the afternoon.
Investors lacked impetus from the US on Thursday. “If there is no trading on the Wall Street, European market participants seem cautious and aimless” commented market analyst Andreas Lipkow. “Volatility is very low, and the 20,300 point mark is currently a key level.”
Papers from Siemens Energy led the stock list in Frankfurt until just before the closing, while those from RWE, Zalando, and Munich Re formed the bottom of the list.
Munich Re, the reinsurer, had published its natural disaster balance for 2024 on Thursday. “Climate change is showing its claws” Munich Re explained. Hardly any other year had made the expected consequences of global warming so clear. Since 1980, natural disasters had only been more expensive in two years than in 2024.
Meanwhile, the gas price fell: a megawatt-hour of gas for delivery in February cost 45 euros, a percent less than the previous day. This implies a consumer price of at least around nine to eleven cents per kilowatt-hour, including additional costs and taxes, if the price level remains the same.
The oil price, in contrast, rose significantly: a barrel of North Sea Brent cost 76.96 US dollars at 5 pm German time, 80 cents or 1.1 percent more than at the close of the previous trading day.
The European common currency was weaker on Thursday afternoon: one euro cost 1.0297 US dollars, a dollar being worth 0.9712 euros in return.