The DAX moved back toward Friday’s level by Monday afternoon. At about 12:30 German time the index was calculated at roughly 22,290 points, almost matching the Friday close. The top performers were RWE, MTU and E.ON, while Siemens Energy, Zalando and Commerzbank sat at the bottom of the list.
Andreas Lipkow, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, noted that investors were selectively buying in the energy sector and in defensive areas such as health and telecommunications. He warned that the market remains difficult. Although most negative impulses have already been priced in, further bad news is still pouring in. It is hard to gauge how quickly rising energy prices will translate into inflation or how high oil can still climb. One certainty, he said, is that the destroyed infrastructure in the Middle East will likely prevent a rapid disinflation trend.
Lipkow added that the risk of an inflation shock cannot be dismissed. He drew parallels to the period after the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Low trading volume today eases selling pressure on the overall market, but it is too early to declare calm. If U.S. ground troops were deployed in an Iran conflict, a new chapter would open.
By Monday afternoon the euro was slightly weaker: 1 euro = 1.1494 U.S. dollars, and 1 U.S. dollar = 0.8700 euros.
Oil prices were rising, too. About 12:00 German time, a barrel of North Sea Brent crude fetched roughly $115.10, up 2.3 % from the previous day’s close.