The DAX finished Friday with a muted start to the trading day, remaining in the negative zone until midday. At around 12:30 p.m. Central European Time the benchmark index was quoted at roughly 24 796 points, up 0.2 % on the previous day’s closing level. In the top of the price list were MTU, Deutsche Börse and Merck, while RWE, Brenntag and Siemens sat at the bottom.
Andreas Lipkow, head market analyst at CMC Markets, explained that “today’s buying hesitation among investors has already been foreshadowed by the morning opening of the DAX”. He added that investors are opting for a quiet stance ahead of the coming weekend, partly because fears of potentially large shifts in the software, finance and logistics sectors continue to loom in financial markets.
Lipkow highlighted that the disruptive rise of artificial intelligence has not only pressured software stocks but also put banks, financial and logistics shares under sales pressure. “Investors tend to sell off first, then question whether their sector will be affected at all, and how severe those changes could be” he said. He warned that volatility has come back into financial markets-today’s metals were again impacted, and stocks are fluctuating over wider trading ranges. This trend drives investors toward bonds and safe havens, adding further selling pressure to equities.
In currency markets, the euro weakened slightly on Friday afternoon, trading at 1.1857 U.S. dollars, while the dollar was worth 0.8434 euros.
Oil prices moved higher during the same period. A barrel of North Sea Brent crude was priced at $67.66 in German markets around 12:00 p.m. local time, up 14 cents, or 0.2 % above the previous day’s close.