The DAX opened the trading day on Tuesday with sharp losses. By 9:30 am the index stood at about 24,085 points, representing a 2.2 % drop from yesterday’s closing level. The top of the daily rank list was occupied by FMC, Deutsche Börse and Qiagen, while Beiersdorf, RWE and Bayer fell to the bottom.
The focus of market chatter remains the war in Iran. Thomas Altmann of QC Partners noted that DAX trading volume yesterday was roughly 25 % higher than on a typical day, yet investor reaction has been relatively moderate: only a few investors sold off shares.
“Oil price is the key variable in this conflict” Altmann added. “A prolonged period of high oil prices can harm the global economy, and in turn, oil could cause deeper losses in the equity market than we have seen so far”.
He said the DAX is in an exciting situation. The 25,000‑point threshold is still in reach even after yesterday’s slide, while the technically important 200‑day moving average sits just below at 24,176 points. Many traders and technical models use this line as a benchmark, and a breach below it could trigger further selling.
The euro weakened in early trade, trading at 1.1636 USD per euro and 0.8594 EUR per dollar.
Brent crude continued its upward trend; at 9 am German time a barrel of North Sea Brent was priced at $80.78, up 3.9 % from the previous day’s close.