The German stock market began Thursday with market losses. Around 9:30 AM, the leading index calculated at approximately 25,245 points was trading 0.2 percent below the previous day’s closing level. Leading the gainers were Deutsche Telekom, Munich Re, and FMC, while the decliners included Infineon, Siemens Energy, and Hochtief.
Commentators suggest that investors are currently facing the second wave of concerns related to AI in the stock market. Thomas Altmann of QC Partners stated that investors are once again questioning the growth trajectories of chip stocks. He emphasized that this situation goes beyond typical profit-taking; it signals a genuine fear of a massive market correction, noting that a basic profit-taking event would result in much lower selling speeds. The combination of high valuations and elevated interest rates, which increase financing costs, is intensifying market scrutiny.
Altmann added that, during this phase, the Dax benefits from its relatively low concentration of tech stocks, meaning that selling waves stemming from AI concerns have a noticeably milder impact on the index. Simultaneously, there is a resurgence in buying government bonds, as the traditional safety of sovereign debt is being rediscovered by investors amid growing volatility in equity markets.
In other financial news, the European community currency strengthened Thursday morning, with one Euro trading at 1.1217 US dollars.
Meanwhile, the price of oil slipped. Around 9 AM Central European Time, a barrel of North Sea Brent crude oil cost $104.30, marking a drop of 1.7 percent or 179 cents compared to the end of the previous trading day.
