The German market turned positive by lunchtime after a sluggish morning. Around 12:30 p.m. the DAX stood at 23 630 points, a rise of about 0.3 % from the previous trading day. E.ON, RWE and Hannover Rück topped the list of gains, while Rheinmetall, Deutsche Bank and Scout24 were among the laggards.
The Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) had earlier reported a mid‑term setback in the economic outlook of financial analysts and institutional investors. This downturn, however, was largely expected by investors because of the ongoing war in Iran.
Thomas Gitzel, chief economist at VP Bank, explained that “the Iran conflict and the resulting spike in oil prices will leave massive recessionary fingerprints” according to the ZEW‑surveyed market analysts. He added that the ZEW projections also hint at potential aftershocks from the Middle‑East war. Investors will be keen to see how companies respond; Gitzel noted that the upcoming Ifo business‑sentiment index and the Purchasing Managers’ Index will be particularly telling.
Currency movements were modest: the euro traded slightly stronger at 1.1514 USD, while the dollar was worth 0.8685 EUR.
Oil prices surged, with Brent crude reaching US$103.20 per barrel around 12:00 p.m. German time – a 3.0 % increase from the previous day’s close.