The DAX held its gains on Thursday, staying clearly in the green through the morning. At around 12:30 p.m. it was quoted at about 24,860 points, up 1.2 % on the day’s close.
Market analyst Daniel Kostecki of CMC Markets said there was a sense of relief across global trading floors after President Trump’s remarks in Davos, especially following the evening news that surfaced from the Swiss Alps. He noted that, alongside a new framework agreement over Greenland, the U.S. government was again pulling back from the tariff threats that had been raised over the weekend.
“Is this truly a retreat by Donald Trump, or should his statements be read as a sign of weakness? It seems very plausible that this is a classic smokescreen designed to divert attention from Washington’s real gains” Kostecki added. The New York Times reports that a potential pact between the U.S., NATO, Denmark, and Greenland could incorporate a model previously applied in the U.K.-Cyprus negotiations, suggesting a long‑term shift in Arctic power balances that would benefit the United States.
If the proposed legal framework is applied to Greenland, it would go well beyond extending existing military lease agreements. The U.S. could create enclaves over which it would retain full, exclusive sovereignty-potentially enabling unlimited mining or a roughly $200 billion “Golden Dome” project-effectively removing these zones from Danish and Greenlandic jurisdiction.
The most intriguing element of the scenario concerns access to rare earths. U.S. companies are expected to begin exploiting the Tanbreez mine in Greenland shortly. Since the end of last year, this project has been managed by listed firm Critical Metals Corp., which purchased it from an Australian company that had previously hunted rare earths in the area. Nonetheless, current Greenlandic law effectively forbids uranium mining. “Establishing a sovereign U.S. base that covers this territory would automatically lift local restrictions. U.S. federal law not only permits uranium mining but explicitly classifies it as a national‑security matter” Kostecki explained.
On the euro‑dollar pair, the euro gained a touch on Thursday afternoon, trading at 1.1695 USD per euro, which in turn valued the dollar at 0.8551 EUR.
Gold prices slipped slightly. In the afternoon a troy ounce fetched $4,828, down 0.1 %-equivalent to about 132.72 EUR per gram.
Brent oil prices fell appreciably. At roughly 12:00 p.m. German time a barrel of North Sea Brent was quoted at $64.47, a decrease of 77 cents or 1.2 % from the previous day’s close.