On Tuesday, the DAX stayed in the red until midday after an already weak start. By about 12:30 pm Central European Time the benchmark had settled around 22,585 points, a 0.3 % drop from the Friday close. The strongest performers that day were Brenntag, BASF and Zalando, while SAP, Bayer and Airbus were at the bottom of the list.
“Investors are still watching the back‑and‑forth between Iran and the United States and react only on an ad‑hoc basis to any new developments” said Andreas Lipkow, chief market analyst at CMC Markets. “The situation in the Middle East remains opaque, and the corresponding ticker updates swing from energy to the broader stock markets”.
Lipkow added that investors are also keeping a close eye on the direct effects on consumption and price dynamics in the United States and Europe. “It will remain crucial to see when rising oil and gas prices start to alter buying habits and potentially dampen the economy”. He noted that the European Purchasing Managers’ Indexes released today show a fairly mixed picture but largely remain within the expansionary zone. The second half of the day will focus on U.S. macro data and the Middle‑Eastern situation.
The euro appeared slightly weaker at midday. One euro bought 1.1597 U.S. dollars, meaning one U.S. dollar was worth 0.8623 euros.
Meanwhile, oil prices rose sharply. At around noon German time Brent crude was trading at $101.70 per barrel-about 1.7 % higher than the previous day’s closing level.
