The DAX remained in the red until lunchtime on Monday after a weak start to the trading day. At around 12:30 p.m. it closed near 25,140 points, down 0.5 % from Friday’s close. The top of the chart was led by Commerzbank, Adidas, and Munich Re; at the bottom were Rheinmetall, SAP and BMW.
In the morning the Ifo business‑climate index for February surprised with a stronger reading, but it offered little momentum. Thomas Gitzel, chief economist of the VP Bank group, said, “The companies surveyed by Ifo are looking more optimistically at the future in February”. He added that this reflects the recent flurry of positive news for the German economy, especially the unexpectedly strong rise in firm orders.
Gitzel cautioned that while sentiment has improved, “there is no reason to talk about euphoria”. He argued that the index suggests economic gloom will persist, noting that the gap between much better order volumes and the muted Ifo index can be explained by higher defense and infrastructure spending.
“Not all firms benefit equally from the new orders” he added. The defense industry is currently the main beneficiary, with construction-particularly civil works-also gaining. In other sectors, especially automotive suppliers, the situation remains difficult, and a broad upswing is not yet apparent.
The euro slipped slightly by midday: 1 USD was worth €0.8480, and 1 EUR cost $1.1793.
Oil prices fell as well. At about noon German time, a barrel of North Sea Brent was trading at $71.35-41 cents, or 0.6 %, less than at the previous day’s close.