Stock Market Index Slips at Week’s Start, Investors Cautious Amid Trade Talks
The German Dax index closed at 24,174 points, a 0.5 percent decline from the previous trading day, as the week got underway. The index initially suffered a weak start, but later recovered some of its losses.
Investors appeared hesitant at the start of the week, following the Dax’s new record high in the previous week. The focus was on the trade talks between China and the United States, which took place in the afternoon in London. The discussions centered on the possibility of relaxing export controls for rare earths, but no agreement was reached by the end of the day.
Infineon shares led the Frankfurt stock market, with a strong performance until just before the close. Siemens Energy, on the other hand, was the day’s laggard.
Meanwhile, the price of natural gas fell, with a megawatt-hour of gas for delivery in July costing 35 euros, a two percent decrease from the previous day. This implies a consumer price of at least eight to ten cents per kilowatt-hour, including additional costs and taxes, if the price level were to remain stable.
In contrast, the price of oil rose, with a barrel of Brent crude trading at 66.93 US dollars at 5 pm German time, a 46-cent or 0.7 percent increase from the previous day’s close.
The European common currency, the euro, was slightly stronger, with one euro exchanging for 1.1417 US dollars and one US dollar for 0.8759 euros.