The DAX rose on Tuesday, closing at 22,680 points on Xetra – a gain of 0.5 % from the previous day’s close. It opened the day largely unchanged, accelerated into the gain and finished the session up.
“After weeks of uncertainty and fear of an unending escalation spiral in the Middle East, hope is returning to the Frankfurt trading floor that the war may be slowly approaching a potential end” commented Andreas Lipkow, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets. “Against the backdrop of Israel’s claims to have destroyed more than half of its military targets, the energy markets are witnessing a shift in the U.S. approach-Trump now seems willing to end the war even if the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked”.
Lipkow added that the DAX has taken the optimistic view of these developments and continued to climb. “Yet investor sentiment still swings between the fear of missing a relief rally and the dread of a renewed escalation” he said. “The idea that the DAX has already hit the lows of this correction is far from certain. If, despite all cease‑fire talks, a U.S. ground troop deployment to Iran were to occur, the market could tilt again, and Europe would likely gain no advantage”.
In Frankfurt, the day’s top‑gainer was MTU, followed by Rheinmetall, Adidas, Commerzbank and Deutsche Börse. The lowest‑performing stocks were Symrise, Fresenius and FMC.
Gas prices fell: a megawatt‑hour (MWh) of gas for April delivery cost €51, down 7 % from the previous day. If that level persists, it translates to a consumer price of roughly €0.10 - €0.12 per kilowatt‑hour (kWh) including ancillary costs and taxes.
Oil prices, by contrast, surged. At around 5:00 p.m. Central European Time on Tuesday, a barrel of North Sea Brent fetched $118.80-up 5.4 % from the prior session’s close.
The euro strengthened on the afternoon of Tuesday: 1 € = $1.1531, while 1 $ = €0.8672.
