The Dax closed the week significantly higher, recording 25,231 points by the close of trading on Xetra, marking a 1.2 percent gain compared to the previous day’s closing figure.
Infineon led the gainers, seeing a sharp surge of over eight percent just before the market closed, followed by Qiagen and Hochtief. Conversely, Daimler Truck finished near the bottom, down by over one percent before closing, with Bayer and SAP also registering declines.
Andreas Lipkow, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets, attributed the market recovery to declining crude oil prices. He noted that the hope for easing energy costs is currently having a greater influence on investors than the noticeable increase in inflation across the Eurozone.
According to preliminary Eurostat estimates, European inflation climbed from 3.2 percent to 3.8 percent in September, slightly exceeding market expectations of 3.7 percent. Lipkow commented that the market’s continued rise despite high inflation demonstrates investors’ focus on future prospects. He stated, “The stock market is not trading yesterday’s inflation today, but tomorrow’s energy prices. Therefore, the hope for significantly lower oil prices is currently overshadowing even a surprising rise in the inflation rate.”
Further support for the Dax came from the U.S., where labor market data disappointed, coming in much weaker than expected. This development is seen as easing pressure on the U.S. central bank. Lipkow explained that the U.S. labor market is clearly losing dynamic momentum without yet showing clear signals of a recession. He added that this combination is ideal for stock markets: the labor market is weak enough to reduce inflationary pressure, but still robust enough not to trigger new economic fears.
The euro strengthened slightly on Friday afternoon, trading at $1.1260, while the dollar was available at 0.8881 euros.
The price of gold weakened, trading at $4,138 per fine ounce in the afternoon, representing a 0.9 percent drop. This equated to a price of 118.17 euros per gram. Meanwhile, oil prices dropped markedly; a barrel of North Sea Brent crude cost approximately $100.60 at 5 p.m. Central European Time on Friday, a reduction of 170 cents, or 1.7 percent, from the previous day’s close.
