The DAX began Thursday morning trading with gains. By 9:30 a.m., the index was calculated at about 25,081 points, up 0.9 percent from the previous day’s closing level. Siemens, Commerzbank, Deutsche Telekom, and Continental were the top performers, while Symrise and Mercedes Benz landed at the bottom of the list. Mercedes Benz announced a significant drop in earnings for the last fiscal year and said it will cut its dividend as a result.
“Investors continue to face a plethora of opposing impulses” said Andreas Lipkow, chief market analyst at CMC Markets. He added that the U.S. jobs data released on Wednesday required deep analysis to form a coherent view of the U.S. economy. “While the figures were well above expectations, recent revisions have often painted a very different picture. Given this, first‑time claims for unemployment relief today may become more significant”.
Lipkow also noted a stabilization at a low macroeconomic level in Europe. “This is reflected in many quarterly reports, such as those released yesterday by Siemens Energy and Commerzbank, and the figures already published today by Siemens. Nevertheless, the economies of China and the United States remain crucial. EU defence spend is also an important driver of this economic steadiness”.
The euro was slightly stronger that morning: one euro traded at 1.1880 U.S. dollars, meaning one dollar was worth 0.8418 euros.
Crude oil rose as well. At around 9 a.m. German time, a barrel of North Sea brand Brent fetched $69.65, a 25‑cent or 0.4 percent increase from the previous day’s close.