30 a..m. – roughly 0.9 % above the previous day’s closing level.
The top movers were Siemens, Commerzbank, Deutsche Telekom and Continental. At the bottom of the list were Symrise and Mercedes‑Benz. Mercedes‑Benz reported a sharp decline in earnings for the past fiscal year and announced that its dividend will be cut.
Chief market analyst Andreas Lipkow of CMC Markets said, “Investors will continue to face a flurry of contradictory impulses”. He explained that the US labour‑market data released on Wednesday required deep detail to form a coherent picture of the U.S. economy. Although the figures initially beat expectations, subsequent revisions often painted a very different picture. As a result, the first‑time job‑seeker claims due later today may become more significant.
Lipkow also noted a stabilization at a low level in the European economy. “This is evident in many quarterly figures – such as the ones released yesterday by Siemens Energy and Commerzbank, and the numbers already presented today by Siemens”. He added that the European economy still depends heavily on China and the United States, and that EU defence spending remains an important additional driver of this stability.
The euro was a touch stronger on Thursday morning: one euro exchanged for US $1.1880, while one US dollar was worth €0.8418.
Brent crude oil rose during the morning session. At around 9 a.m. German time, a barrel of North Sea Brent fetched US $69.65, which is 25 cents, or 0.4 %, higher than the close of the previous trading day.