The DAX began Thursday strong, added to its gains through the morning, and was trading near its high by midday. At about 12:30 a.m. German time the index logged roughly 24,194 points, up 1.4 % from the previous day’s close. Siemens led the gains, followed by Commerzbank and Deutsche Telekom, while RWE, Mercedes‑Benz, Heidelberg Materials, and Symrise finished at the bottom of the list.
CMC Markets’ chief market analyst Andreas Lipkow noted that the index was being lifted mainly by Siemens, which has become the new heavyweight after surpassing SAP on the basis of its quarterly results. “The industrial group has overtaken SAP and is now the number one company in the German benchmark” he said. “The earlier scepticism about its operational performance was wiped out today”. Lipkow also cautioned that the market remains uncertain about whether the forthcoming U.S. labour‑market data will sustain optimism, especially given the recent cooling in the U.S. real‑estate sector, which could resurface today.
The euro strengthened slightly on Thursday afternoon, trading at 1.1883 USD per euro, or 0.8415 EUR per USD.
Brent crude fell to $69.18 per barrel at about 12:00 a.m. German time, down 22 cents or 0.3 % from the previous day’s close.
