On Friday, the DAX opened with a friendly bump but largely lost the gains it had made before noon. At about 12:30 p.m., the index was listed at roughly 22,855 points, up 0.1 percent from yesterday’s closing level. The top of the day’s movers were Infineon, Heidelberg Materials and Deutsche Post, while SAP, Gea and Qiagen sat at the bottom of the performance list.
CMC Markets’ chief market analyst, Andreas Lipkow, said the DAX could not maintain its opening level and was sliding further below the 23,000‑point mark. He added that trading in Frankfurt is likely to stay volatile into the afternoon, influenced by the expiration of futures contracts. Overall, the market mood remains noticeably nervous because the situation in the Middle East stays uncertain. All involved parties continue to make statements that stir up energy‑price swings.
Lipkow noted that Iran appears to be demanding a form of protection money from oil tankers that wish to pass the Strait of Hormuz safely, while rejecting claims that U.S. and Israeli strikes have weakened its position. He argued that such moves make an early resolution of the conflict seem increasingly unlikely, especially as Israel hints at a possible deployment of ground troops. He also highlighted that the language of the dispute has hardened dramatically in recent trading days.
The euro weakened slightly at mid‑afternoon: one euro bought 1.1571 U.S. dollars, while one U.S. dollar was worth 0.8642 euros.
Oil prices fell a little further. A barrel of Brent, the North Sea benchmark, was priced at $108.20 at about 12:00 p.m. German time, 44 cents (0.4 percent) lower than the previous day’s close.